Escaping Tartarus
by StarsAreWorlds
Summary: Sequel to Escaping Ogygia. Calypso and Leo are on their way down to Tartarus, the Greek equivalent of Hell. Meanwhile, the rest of the Eight are struggling to reach Epirus, the location of the Doors of Death. Will they be able to complete their quest?
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own PJO or HOO._

 **Calypso**

If the fall takes nine days, I'm actually going to personally murder the Fates.

That's how long the fall to Tartarus is estimated to be. But when have the legends ever been reliable? The stories make Zeus out to be some wonderful king, generous and all-powerful. The gods are mighty beings, never to be messed with. Yet they rely on heroes to safe them.

I'm no hero. By definition, a hero is a demigod, the child of a god and a human. They are admired for their courage, selflessness and bravery and and lots of other things that mean nothing to me.

Heroes protect the innocent and each other. And 'most importantly', the gods.

I am Calypso, daughter of Atlas, Titan of astronomy and navigation, also known as 'the idiot holding the sky'. My mother is unimportant, mostly because I never knew her. Either she left me at birth or my father, Atlas killed her.

Atlas was a horrible father. I don't even consider him my father anymore. Atlas was the one that drove me to the gods. I came to Artemis first, we became friends and she introduced me to the council.

I became their spy.

As daughter of the General of the Titans. It wasn't hard to get information. I never got caught and I was the gods' main weapon in the final battle. I killed most of the Titans and almost Kronos until Zeus stepped in. Zeus then wiped my memories and banished me to an island for suspicion of me betraying the gods (completely untrue).

I named my island Ogygia. It was my home and prison for a long time. Then seven boys and girls appeared on my island. Demigods. Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel and...Leo. They helped me escape Ogygia and brought me on a quest to save the gods, _again_.

The quest was going fine until Athena's stupid statue ruined it. Athena herself isn't bad, she's quite fair and very clever. But her statue is now the reason I'm falling into Tartarus.

Leo and I are still holding hands. We have been since we fell.

Leo, surprisingly, isn't screaming. He just pulls me close to him and hugs me tightly.

"Are you okay?!" I yell in his ear over the wind.

"Yeah!" Leo shouts back. "You?!"

"I'm good!"

That's when everything gets slightly lighter and develops a red tinge, and the air becomes unbearably hot. I don't have time to warn Leo before we hit the river.

 _Boom!_

The impact we make with the river should kill us, but it doesn't. Voices fill my mind, telling me to give up, to stay at the bottom of the river.

 _All hope is gone. Why bother? What's the point in struggling? You'll never leave this place anyway. Give up._

I nearly do.

But then I catch sight of Leo's face, filled with panic as he tries to pull me to the surface. I stop resisting and even kick slightly, allowing us to surface above the water.

 _Life is despair. Everything is pointless._

Leo and I gasp for breath once we reach the top and we start swimming weakly through the murky waters to the shore.

"C'mon, Cal," Leo whispers, half dragging me through the water.

Slowly I start to kick harder and we reach land. We both immediately collapse on the riverbank. I cry out softly as sharp pieces of glass dig into my face, arms and legs. I weakly sit up and examine my self, nothing serious. Just a few scratches and cuts.

I then check on Leo. I roll him onto his back and examine him. I pull a few pieces of glass from his arms but he otherwise seems fine. Just exhausted to the point of not moving.

I then check my surroundings, cursing myself for not doing it sooner. Red plains stretch out for miles and miles until I can't see through the red mist anymore. The riverbank isn't made of sand or dirt or anything normal. It's made of broken glass. No monsters are in sight, but that means nothing. They can he hiding.

"Cal?" Leo's eyes flutter open.

I envelope him in a hug, "Thank the gods, you're okay!"

"That sucked," Leo sighs, sitting up. "What kind of water _is_ that?"

I regard the river with distaste, "That's the Cocytus, the river of misery. It's one of the five rivers of the underworld."

Leo shudders, "I personally hope we don't see the other four."

I couldn't help but silently agree with him.

I look around nervously, "We need to get out of here."

Leo rolls his eyes, "Yeah, no kidding. Tartarus is exactly where I wanted to end up."

"No, away from here. Something's watching us," I say, scanning the dark plains.

I grab Leo's hand, "Come on!"

I pull him onto his feet and start to drag him away.

"Do you know where you're going?!" Leo asks as he nearly trips over.

I glance behind us, "The way that feels the most dangerous, of course."

" _Why_?!" Leo asks/complains.

"Because that's where the Doors will be," I answer. "They will be at the heart of Tartarus. The centre of Tartarus. We won't be able to miss it."

"The centre of Tartarus?" Leo asks. "So it'll be in the middle of nowhere, not up against some wall?"

"Precisely," I reply.

"So it'll be easy to spy on?" Leo continues questioningly.

"That's just the type of thinking you need in here," I say approvingly.

Leo grins, "It must be because I'm so-"

Leo cuts himself off with a round of violent coughing. He doubles over, covering his mouth.

"Leo?!" I ask in shock. "What's the matter?"

Leo's coughing fit eventually eases up and he stands up straighter, "Don't you feel it? There's something wrong with the air."

Leo starts coughing again and I rub his back comfortingly.

"The air is like poison to gods and their children," I remember.

"Poison?" Leo coughs out.

"Hades," I start dragging Leo back across the plains again.

"Where-going?" Leo manages between coughs.

"The Phlegethon," I answer briefly. "It's the river of healing."

"How-know-where-is?" Leo splutters.

"The five rivers start from the Underworld, follow the outside walls of Tartarus and then flow to the heart of Tartarus. They _have_ to eventually cross each other," I reply.

I doubt my own logic. I have no idea how big Tartarus is and it could take hours to find the next river, let alone the Phlegethon. Leo looks like he has minutes. In the short amount of time that we have been down here, his face has gone a sickly white and though he tries to hide it, I can see the blood on his hands from his coughing.

I've given up almost all hope when I see a change ahead. I squint, not believing my own eyes (or luck). The dark murky waters are no longer dark. The water has turned to a fiery red with specks of orange and yellow.

I move with more energy now, half carrying Leo as I struggle towards the river. To his credit, Leo is trying to be as manageable as possible when having a coughing fit.

I dump Leo on the ground next to the river and kneel beside him. I take an empty flask of nectar from my backpack and lean over the side of the Phlegethon. I scoop up some of the liquid fire in the bottle and wait for a break in Leo's coughing.

Leo's coughing gets slower and slower, but so does his movements. With one final cough, Leo stops writhing on the ground. I immediately pick up his head and place it in my lap. I pour the fire carefully into his mouth and Leo starts spluttering and coughing again.

After a minute, Leo stops coughing and sits up. His face has slightly more colour and his eyes are no longer filled with pain.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly.

"That tasted disgusting!" Leo complains. "It's like a hundred ghost peppers mixed with gas!"

I laugh, "I wouldn't know."

Leo examines my face, "What about you? Do you need any?"

"No," I reply. "I'm the daughter of a Titan. This is the home of all monsters, Titans included."

Leo huffs, "That's unfair. So while I get refreshing liquid fire, you can just watch and laugh?"

"Pretty much," I smile. "But don't worry, I've still got some water in my bag for me."

Leo rolls his eyes, "Do we just keep on following the river until it goes inland?"

"I suppose if you want to live, we have to," I say.

"You know?" Leo says. "When you explained about the rivers forming a circle then going inland, it sounded a lot smaller."

I roll my eyes at him, "I didn't say they form a circle. The rivers follow the edges of Tartarus. Picture it as America. It doesn't form a circle, does it?"

"Well America is freaking huge," Leo grumbles back.

"It's America," I remind him.

"Fudge America," Leo replies.

"You just insulted a whole two continents," I say absentmindedly.

We've been walking for about an hour. Since then the red plains have changed, developed into dead mountain and dead forests. Dead. That's a good way to describe Tartarus. The air, the noise, the area, everything. Dead.

Occasionally we see a monster swooping down from above and probably to some unsuspecting monster. Our forest has no signs of life so far. There is no greenery or foliage. The trees are thick but most likely hollow and brittle. Twigs litter the ground at random and Leo and I do our best to avoid them.

Being quiet has proved pointless, so we just create mindless and meaningless chatter. Just words to fill the silence.

"Why are there no monsters?" Leo asks abruptly.

"I don't know," I reply, looking around uneasily. "It's not natural."

"Maybe they're all above ground?" Leo suggests hopefully.

"That would be a _bad_ thing Leo. That means that the second we get out of here, we have to deal with thousands of monsters."

A branch snaps behind us.

I drop into a crouch, pulling out my bow and aiming it behind me.

"What?!" Leo hisses urgently from behind me.

"Are you deaf?!" I whisper back.

A boy stumbles out from behind a tree and freezes. His eyes lock onto us and he unsheathes a long black sword. He is wearing dark clothes and has brown hair and eyes. His hair is messy and matted with blood. His clothes are ripped and torn in some places and he wears a black aviator jacket.

The boy points his sword at us, "Who are you?"

 **-SAW**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hazel Levesque**

I'm still shaken up from what happened.

It's been two hours at most. Two hours since Jason and Frank found us clinging to the rope ladder. Two hours since they found out that Calypso and Leo were missing. Two hours since Calypso and Leo fell into Tartarus.

We managed to get the statue into the stables, like Leo had originally planned. It wasn't proper to stick Athena, goddess of wisdom in a place designed for horses, but no one really cared. It's what Leo was going to do, and we carried it out.

We rely more on Leo than noticed. He keeps our spirits up with annoying jokes and stupid remarks. He keeps the Argo 2 going. He communicates with Festus, his stupid yet important metal dragon head.

Leo is a key member of the Eight.

So is Calypso. She is the unspoken leader. She works with Leo to map our courses. She keeps everything held together.

And now it's falling to pieces.

"It's not your fault Jason," Pipers voice rings across the room. "It's not any of ours."

We're currently having a meeting, discussing our next move. Well at least we should be discussing our next move, instead we've been discussing Calypso and Leo's move- well, fall into Tartarus.

"I should've been quicker," Jason mumbles. "I should've been down there to fly them back up."

"Jason!"

"No, he's right," Frank says. "I should've been down there too, I could've saved them."

I just shake my head at him in a resigned manner. First Jason, now Frank. It's wasn't their faults, it was the statue's. When it had dropped, it had shaken the floor, crumbled it. The statue survived, Calypso and Leo didn't.

"Silence," a new voice orders, Zoé's. "Calypso and... Leo will make it to the Doors, regardless."

"She's right," I agree. "They're not dead, I would sense it. They will fight their way out of Tartarus. Calypso is probably the strongest demi-titan in the world." I glance at Zoé before continuing. "And Leo is one of the strongest demigods out there."

"What we need to worry about, is meeting them on the other side," I finish.

"The House of Hades," Zoé nods. "In Epirus."

"It's one of Dad's temples," I explain. "If we can seal the Doors from both sides, the monsters can't escape Tartarus."

"For a while at least," Annabeth finishes. "We'll still have to get through Gaia's forces. She won't leave the Doors unguarded."

"Until we reach the Doors, Gaia's going to throw everything she's got at us," Jason puts in.

"We've got a month at most," I say. "That's what Ephialtes and Dad said."

"It's going to be difficult," Frank says.

"What else is new?" Percy asks sarcastically. "When have our lives ever been easy? This is just another challenge. We've just got to toughen up a bit."

"Percy's right," I say.

"Annabeth, do you know how to sail the Argo?" I ask.

Annabeth nods tightly, "Leo didn't exactly leave a instructions pamphlet, but I know enough."

"Good," Jason says. "Can you get us going?"

Annabeth nods and hurries off, I go after her and follow her to the engine room.

"We need to pick a route to take," I say.

Annabeth smiles and nods at me in agreement.

"Here," Annabeth brings out an old map and unfolds it.

"The most direct route is through the mountains," Annabeth says, her fingers tracing our route.

I nod and step to the side as she moves around the room, flicking switches and pulling levers. As Annabeth presses a button, I feel a slight shift in the metals beneath me and I peer outside the small barred window and watch the clouds drift past us.

"It's my fault, you know?" Annabeth says from behind me.

"The statue shouldn't have dropped, the ship is perfectly capable of handling it's weight. I freaked out, and accidentally hit a switch..." Annabeth trails off.

"It's not your fault, Annabeth," I say fiercely. "It's not your fault, it's not Frank's fault and it's not Jason's fault! It's Gaia's fault, not ours! It's her fault Leo's mother died when he was young. It's her fault I died before. It's all her fault!"

I storm out of the room, angry at not Annabeth, but Gaia.

I go to the railing of the ship and just watch the scenery passing below me. That's when I see it. The giant purple wave of mist and of course, the dust streak racing away from it. A strangely beige coloured animal moving at incredible speeds.

"Arion," I breath.

I rush to the helm where Annabeth has repositioned herself.

"Stop the ship!" I demand, coming to an abrupt halt.

"What?" Annabeth says in confusion. "But we just got-"

"Arion's here," I say breathlessly. "Get me as close to the ground as you can get and I'll use the rope ladder."

Annabeth looks at me doubtfully, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Hurry up!"

Soon Annabeth starts lowering the ladder and I climb carefully onto it. The ladder slowly comes closer and closer to the ground while Arion speeds towards me.

I jump the last part of the ladder, too excited to wait any longer as Annabeth lowers me and the ladder down.

In the blink of an eye, Arion is standing in front of me. I fling my arms around him and bury my face in his flank.

"Where were you?" I ask, elated.

Arion neighs at me impatiently and skitters nervously.

"You want to take me somewhere?" I guess.

Arion neighs what seems like a yes. Gods, I should've brought Percy down with me.

"Hazel?!" Annabeth yells.

"He wants to take me somewhere!" I yell back, answering her unspoken question.

"I'll be back!" I yell.

"And if you're not?!" Annabeth questions.

"Just trust me!"

* * *

I reach the top of the rope ladder and pull myself up. Jason, Piper, Percy and Frank have gathered on the deck and are waiting for me.

"We can't go across the mountains," I say, brushing past Jason and heading towards Annabeth.

"And why not?" Annabeth asks quizzically.

"Mountain gods, children of Gaia," I answer. "They'll destroy the ship and we haven't got Le- someone to repair it."

"Where do we go then?" Piper asks, perched unsafely on the railing.

"Around the mountains, take the sea route," I say, wincing at the thought of the sea.

"That's a long detour," Frank grunts. "It might take several more days."

Several more days until we will know if Calypso and Leo made it out. It doesn't matter. I know it's important for us to be there at the same time as them, but the sea is the safest way, and the only way if we want to survive.

"Hazel, what exactly did you see?" Percy asks slowly.

"Nothing," I say, flinching as I look Percy in the eyes.

Percy grabs me by the shoulders and I cringe.

"This clearly isn't nothing, Hazel," Percy says firmly.

I wriggle loose of Percy's grasp and slip past him, "It's fine."

I walk quickly to my room and close the door softly behind me. I collapse on my bed and stare up at the wooden ceiling.

My thoughts are swirling around with no direction, giving me a headache. I keep coming back to one thing.

 _Percy_.

Oh my gods, how do I tell him? How do I tell her? They'll understand its not my fault, right?

Someone knocks on my door.

"Hazel?"

I quickly sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, "Come in."

Frank enters the room holding two mugs, "Hi."

I pat the edge of my bed and scoot back onto my bed so that I'm leaning against the back of my bed. I curl my legs up beneath me as Frank comes over and sits gingerly on the edge of my bed.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Frank looks even more embarrassed, "I just came to check on you. You seemed really worried about something. Here, I made some hot chocolate."

Frank passes me a mug and I cup it in my hands, letting the warmth sweep through me.

I manage a tired smile, "Thanks Frank, that's really sweet of you."

Frank blushes and tries to cover it up by taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Could you tell me what's wrong?" Frank asks, blushing. "Maybe I can help, somehow."

I sigh, "I can't Frank. I'm sorry, but I don't think you can help with this one."

 _It's inevitable, you cannot stop fate._

I take another sip of hot chocolate, "The Fates are horrible."

Frank looks slightly more relaxed as he sips at his hot chocolate, "Yeah, they suck."

"They never give heroes a break," I continue.

Frank glances at me, unsure where I'm going with this. I'm unsure too.

I don't consider myself a hero. Compared to Percy and Annabeth and Calypso and Jason and even Piper, Frank and Leo. I'm a dead girl, surrounded by living people. People smart and strong enough not to get themselves manipulated like I did.

I finish my hot chocolate and stare at the empty cup.

Frank plants a kiss on my forehead, "I've got to go. Night Hazel."

"Goodnight," I say back as he takes back my empty mug.

But I know I won't be getting much sleep.

* * *

I wake up after about five hours of sleep to near darkness.

I check the clock on my bedside table. 5:00.

I sit up carefully and sigh, I know I won't be able to get back to sleep.

I get up and change into something less crumpled, not bothering to check what it is. I brush out my hair and pull it into a loose ponytail. I brush my teeth and head out to the kitchen.

I carefully pull a pan out from a draw, making sure not to bang it against anything so I don't wake anyone. I grab the necessary ingredients for a pancake and double my mental recipe. I measure out the flour half absentmindedly.

Piper taught me how to make pancakes. And Calypso. It was a long and painful process and I have now learnt not to trust the stove. It's too powerful and you need to set it a lot lower than recommended, if you don't want to burn anything.

I crack an egg and add it to the milk, then repeat the process. I mix in the flour mixture and turn on the stove. I fold the mixture before scooping it into a spoon and carefully dropping it onto the pan. I wait thirty seconds before I check the pancake. Sure enough, it's browned. I flip the pancake and wait before taking it off and putting it onto a plate.

I freeze when I see that I've subconsciously taken out seven plates. I pick up two before placing one back down and putting the other away in the cupboard.

I sigh and finish off the pancakes, piling them all onto the same plate and covering them with a tea towel to keep them warm.

I turn to the large pile of dishes and start to wash them. The floorboards creak and I tense up before relaxing. I turn to greet whoever is here and freeze.

"Hi, P-Percy," I manage before turning back to the dishing.

I rub fiercely at a mark that won't come off as I hear Percy come closer to me.

"Hazel," Percy says softly, turning me around. "You can tell me what's wrong."

Percy's genuinely upset. I can tell. But I can't tell him.

"Nothing's wrong, Percy. I don't know what you're talking about," I deliberately turn back around and work on the dishes again.

I apply some more dishwashing soap to the mark and rub at it persistently. It slowly comes off and I grab a mug. The mug I used last night.

I hear Frank come in behind me, yawning. "Did someone make food?"

I edge away from a still annoyingly close Percy and point at the plate.

"I made pancakes, go wake the others," I say.

Frank takes a close look at my pale face before nodding and leaving the room.

I grab a pair of tongs from the draw and brush past Percy and towards the plate. I empty two pancakes onto each plate and take out the maple syrup.

Percy sits down at the table and I place the syrup in the middle of the table.

I pick up two plates and place one in front of Percy, averting my eyes, and place another plate next to him. I go back to the counter and pick up another two before walking back to the table. I falter slightly when I come to Leo's chair but I place the plate next to his spot.

Piper comes into the room and spots me. She smiles in a friendly manner and picks up two out of three of the remaining plates. I smile back weakly and pick up my own plate before making my way to my normal spot next to Frank.

Frank sits beside me and gives me a quick kiss before digging into his pancakes. Gradually, the rest of the Eight and Zoé wander in and start eating.

After one pancake I lose my appetite. I pick at the food on my plate before pushing the plate towards Frank.

I get up and leave the room, ignoring Frank calling me back.

 _There's nothing you can do to stop it, Hazel Levesque._

 **-SAW**


	3. Chapter 3

**Leo Valdez**

So, annoying the dangerous looking guy with the sword would be a bad idea, wouldn't it?

I do the natural thing and hold up my hands in defence, "I'm Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus." I figure he won't appreciate my other titles, not many people seem to, for some reason.

Calypso keeps her mouth shut and the boy zeros in on her, "And who are you?"

Calypso's bow appears in her hand just as I sneak out my dagger. Calypso notches an arrow and takes aim at the strange boy, "You first."

The boy scowls and holds up his sword, ready to swing in case an arrow comes towards him, "Son of Hades. You?"

"Demi-titan," Calypso replies smoothly. "I meant your name, _boy_."

The boy's scowl immediately deepens and his eyes turn distant, as if remembering something unpleasant from the past, "Don't call me that!"

Calypso raises an eyebrow before narrowing her eyes at him, "Your name and titles, now."

"Nico Di Angelo, Ghost King, son of Hades and ambassador of Pluto," the boy says, evidently seeing the odds of him winning in a fight against us.

Calypso doesn't relax her grip on her bow, "Are you loyal to Olympus?"

Nico tenses and I can tell he is readying himself for a fight, "Yes."

Nico immediately changes into a defensive stance, sword raised and at the ready. Nico looks at us in confusion when we don't attack.

I push Calypso's bow down, "It's cool, Cal. He's on our side, unless he was lying, which is a pretty high chance."

Calypso glares slightly at me but lowers her bow, "What are you doing in Tartarus?"

Nico narrows his eyes, "I believe it is time I get a few answers of my own."

I elbow Calypso and she sighs, "I'm Calypso, daughter of Atlas, sister of Zoé Nightshade."

Sister of Zoé Nightshade? Last I checked, you don't add your siblings to your titles. Maybe Calypso's just really proud of being related to her. Zoé seems like a nice person. She tried to crush my hand and actually did succeed in breaking a few bones, but all in all, very likeable.

If you didn't already know, Zoé Nightshade is Calypso's sixteen year old sister. Well, she was immortal, but I'm not sure if she still is. She looks sixteen at any rate.

Nico grips his sword tightly, "Zoé Nightshade? Hunter of Artemis?"

Calypso nods, "Yes."

"She's alive," Nico states. He's not asking it, nor trying to get confirmation. It's a fact that he somehow already knows.

"How did you know?" I ask.

Nico's scowl changes into a softer frown, "Because she saved my life."

Calypso's bow immediately disappears and she takes a step forward, "When?"

"We found each other in here, Tartarus. We teamed up to avoid monsters and scavenge from the statue for food. But I knew her before that, she was part of the group that took my sister away," Nico's expression changes into one of pain as he mentions his sister.

I should really start listening to Percy's stories when they are told at the campfire. Nico Di Angelo sounds familiar and Percy definitely mentioned a quest with the Hunters of Artemis.

"You were friends with Percy Jackson," I say, trying to remember the story. "He went on a quest with Zoé Nightshade and another girl. Bianca or something?"

Nico's sword tip is at my throat in an instant and I freeze up.

"Say her name again. I dare you," Nico says coldly.

Even I'm not that stupid.

I try to think of how long it will take for me to swipe at him with my dagger (which is quite short in comparison to his sword) and if by that time, I will already be dead.

Calypso has her bow out again and she takes aim at Nico's head, "Back away from him now."

I let out a breath as Nico removes his sword and backs out of range. I thank Calypso mentally for not letting me die.

"Are you against or with Olympus?" Nico asks with a tone of finality.

"With," Calypso answers. "With Olympus."

Nico glances around, "Then you're on my side. Come with me."

Without hesitation, Calypso moves to follow him.

"Calypso!" I whisper frantically. "If a stranger asks you to follow them into the woods, you _don't_ do it!"

"Leo," Calypso sighs with a strange smile. "When do normal rules ever apply to people like us?"

We follow the stranger into the woods.

Nico Di Angelo leads us to the mountains I previously saw and takes us up several narrow and dangerous paths to the top. When we reach the top, my feet are aching and legs sore despite both Nico and Calypso showing no sign of fatigue.

"What is this place?" Calypso asks, looking around in amazement.

Nico has lead us into some sort of cave, concealed cleverly so that if you don't know there is a cave there, your eyes will just pass over nothing.

Nico slips through the narrow crack in the wall and Calypso glances at me before following him. I step into the cave and have to blink several times to adjust to the dark room. Then the first thing I see is the giant man sitting at the table.

My dagger is in my hand in seconds and I see Calypso do the same with her knives.

"Iapetus," Calypso snarls.

Nico steps between us and the Titan, "Yes, but he also is not. Percy wiped his memories in the river Lethe, and even when he regained his memories, he has been on our side. Call him Bob."

"If he is a good Titan, then why is he down here?" Calypso asks with less venom.

Nico winces, "I called him. By accident, of course. But he saved my life."

Calypso examines Iapetus for a second longer before striding up to him. Her knives disappear from her hands and she holds out her right hand. Iapetus envelopes her hand in his rather large one and shakes it firmly.

"Leo," Calypso calls over her shoulder.

I make my way over and shake Iapetus' hand nervously.

Calypso turns back to Nico, "You still need to tell us how you ended up down here."

Nico gestures for us to take a seat and we do. Nico sits down at the head of the table and sheathes his sword.

"I went looking for the Doors of Death. I was stupid, I was at the edge of Tartarus and got sucked in. I was alone for about a week until I found Zoé Nightshade. She had escaped the Giants and was doing her best to hide. We teamed up, took turns sneaking food from a statue to Hermes we found. Then we met Bob and he showed us this place. We survived for a month. Then one day, when Zoé was getting food, she didn't come back. I went looking for her and I heard a scream. I tried to find her, but it was like she'd disappeared. It's been two weeks since then."

Calypso has been nodding along to Nico's story and finally speaks, "Do you care about her?"

Nico scowls, "Of course. Bob and I both do."

Calypso gives a small smile, "She's alright. We rescued her right before we fell into Tartarus."

Iapetus lets out a sigh of relief and Nico echoes him, "Thank the gods."

Calypso has a strange look on her face, "Exactly, how old are you?"

Nico looks at her oddly, "Sixteen, why?"

Calypso scowls, "No reason."

Obviously. That's why she's glaring at him.

"Who are you?" Bob/Iapetus asks in a deep voice.

"I'm Calypso and this is Leo Valdez," Calypso nods towards me.

Iapetus' eyes widen slightly as he looks at Calypso more closely, "Zoé's sister?"

Calypso nods, smiling proudly at the mention of her sister.

"How did you end up in Tartarus?" Nico asks.

Calypso glances at me before starting to tell them about our quest. From the beginning.

Calypso finishes and leans back in her chair to gauge Iapetus and Nico's reactions. A smirk is on her face from the completely dumbstruck looks on their faces.

"Impressive," Iapetus says, nodding his head slowly. "Very impressive."

"You fell into Tartarus for him?" Nico says incredulously.

"I have a name," I mutter.

Calypso fixes Nico with a look, "Yes. I fell into Tartarus for him. Do you really think he would have made it this far without me?"

She's got a point.

"Thanks, by the way," I tell Calypso.

Calypso rolls her eyes at me, like, _It didn't occur to you to say this before?!_

"So what's the plan now?" I ask swiftly, trying to hide my embarrassment.

Nico exchanges a look with Iapetus, "I think it's time for another go at the statue."

Nico looks at us, "Do you want to come with me?"

Calypso gives me a look and I inwardly groan. We just climbed up a mountain, and now she wants to go back _down_ it?!

"Sure," Calypso answers for the both of us.

Nico shoulders a backpack and I look around awkwardly, "Have you got another backpack?"

"No," Nico says. "Me and Zoé just shared the one."

I look away quickly, "Let's go."

Nico leads the way and I wave goodbye to an unresponsive Iapetus. Calypso follows me closely, the narrow paths down the mountain too tight to walk side by side.

Several trips and near-falls down the mountainside, I reach the bottom of the mountain. Nico starts leading us in the opposite direction we first came from and Calypso falls into line with me.

Calypso slips her hand into mine and I blush heavily. I chance a look at her but she stares steadfastly forward.

We march along like this for about ten minutes, going across the half mountain half plains area.

Nico pulls us behind a boulder and we peek over the top. Nico points across the plains to a small pit in the middle.

"That's where the statue is," he says in a hushed voice. "The only problem is, it's in the middle of a completely open area and there's a Titan base a couple hundred metres away. So you have to make sure you stick to the shadows."

I sort of raise my hand, "Um, what exactly _is_ the statue?"

Nico sighs in annoyance, "It's a statue of Hermes that ended up in Tartarus somehow. Every night, food appears at it. We think it's from Camp Half-Blood. Some of Hermes cabin's sacrifices to Hermes."

I lower my hand, "Okay."

Nico glances over the boulder again, "Okay. Watch how I do it."

Nico slips away and runs lowly to another boulder. Nico heads for another cluster of large rocks but flings himself to the ground when something swoops down from the sky. The creature's shadow passes over him and he glances up before leaping to his feet and completing the final run to the statue.

When Nico comes back, his eyes are sparkling despite his emotionless face.

"It might be a bit hard. Just make sure you-" Nico starts.

Calypso is already ducking across the plain, sprinting lowly between rocks. She reaches the pit with no trouble and slides into it.

Nico looks very impressed, "She's as good as Zoé."

I glare a hole through the back of his head.

Calypso pops out of the hole and makes her way over to us, grinning breathlessly. I can tell she enjoyed the thrill of the raid.

"Do I go now?" I ask nervously.

"It's alright, Leo. I got the re-" Calypso is cut off by Nico.

"No, let him go," Nico says, sizing me up silently.

Calypso looks at him in confusion, "But I got al-"

"Let him go," Nico says forcefully.

Calypso looks at him strangely but backs down.

"Uh, do I need a backpack or something?" I ask, shifting uneasily beneath Nico's gaze.

"No, you'll manage," Nico says.

"Whatever you say," I mutter under my breath.

I take off towards a nearby cluster of rocks, crouching as I run. I hear a flapping noise above me and dive towards the rocks. I look up but nothing seems to be above me. I glance around before making a beeline for the statue.

I reach the statue and slide down into the small pit, towards the Hermes statue.

 _Oh my gods, Nico. Really?!_

I quickly gather the food and climb carefully out of the pit and run directly to Nico and Calypso.

Of course that's when it all goes wrong.

I hear the same flapping noise again but this time when I look up something is swooping down at me. Three somethings.

I duck below the claws of one of the demons and fumble for my dagger. I send a burst of fire into the face of one demon and it immediately disintegrates with a loud wail.

I spin to the left to avoid a strike and drive my dagger into the chest of another demon. The third demon swoops at me and I step to the side and slice off one of it's wings. It comes crashing to the ground and I stomp viciously on it's throat.

I set off a at dead sprint to Calypso and Nico's boulder and collapse beside it. I slump against it as Calypso and Nico stand above me. My breath comes out in heavy pants.

Slowly, my breathing slows and I can talk.

I throw a chocolate bar at Nico, "There's your fricking food. Thanks for making me go all the way there just for a stupid _chocolate bar_!"

Nico smirks and helps me up, "I'm impressed, Valdez. I didn't think you'd make it."

"Jeez, thanks," I say, pushing him away.

Nico picks up the chocolate bar from the ground, "I never liked chocolate."

Nico throws it to Calypso, "You want it?"

Calypso drops it on the ground as I gape at her, "No. Never had chocolate before."

I stare uncomprehendingly at them both, "You nearly got me killed off for a single chocolate bar, and now you're not even going to eat it!"

"Good point," Nico says. "You want to put it back for us?"

I glare at him, muttering profanities under my breath.

I step deliberately on the chocolate bar before turning to Nico, "Let's go back."

 **-SAW**


	4. Chapter 4

**Jason Grace**

Hazel has been acting strangely around Percy.

Like, strange for a demigod. She never looks him in the eyes, she barely talks to him, in fact, she rarely stays in the same room as him for more than ten minutes.

I'm worried about her. Percy is a good guy and would never do something to hurt her. Right?

All of us have noticed. Piper, Annabeth, Frank, Zoé and I have all asked Percy what's happening. And I know for a fact that some of them have asked Hazel too.

Percy walks into dining room last and sits down next to Annabeth. She smiles at him and kisses his cheek. Percy gets a muttered hello from Frank and a nod from Zoé and I.

Percy sniffs the air, "What's for breakfast?"

Annabeth laughs, "Piper and Hazel are making eggs and bacon. Speaking of which..." Annabeth trails off then lowers her voice, "I think you should talk to Hazel. I don't know if you did something to upset her or-"

"I didn't do anything," Percy promises. "Not that I can remember, at least."

Annabeth purses her lips, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Percy nods. "Fifty percent certain."

Annabeth sighs loudly, "Percy-"

"I know, I know," Percy says holding up his hands. "I was just..."

Hazel walks in the room and Percy trails off. Annabeth scowls as she looks between Hazel and Percy.

"This is ridiculous," Zoé states.

"I agree," Piper says, carrying in two plates with another balanced unevenly between both of her hands.

"You two need to sort this out," Piper states calmly, taking a seat.

Hazel blushes and disappears back to the kitchen to retrieve the last two plates. When she reappears she hastily sits and keeps her head down. Hazel pushes the food around on her plate but doesn't eat it. Everyone watches Hazel doing this.

Hazel glances up to find everyone's eyes on her and she stops pushing her food around and places down her fork.

"Did I do something?" Percy asks first.

Hazel's eyes flicker to Percy's before going back to studying her food, "No, Percy."

"Then why are you avoiding him?" Piper asks softly. "And don't deny it, everyone's noticed."

"I'm not avoiding him," Hazel says, causing several eye rolls and exasperated sighs.

"Then what do _you_ call going out of the room whenever Percy is in it, or never looking him in the eyes, or barely talking to him?" Annabeth asks in slight exasperation.

Hazel scowls, "This is stupid."

She gets up and leaves the room, her plate still full and her drink untouched.

Frank sighs and picks up her food, "I'll go after her."

Frank leaves and the room goes silent.

"You see?" Percy says miserably. "She hates me."

Piper glares at Percy, "She does not hate you. She was acting _sad_ , not angry. There's a big difference!"

"Piper's right," Annabeth says. "This is Hazel's problem, not yours."

Percy gapes at Annabeth, "That ruins the whole point of the Eight! Shouldn't we be _united as one_ or some other rubbish like that?"

Annabeth rolls her eyes, "Nonetheless, there's nothing we can do until Hazel decides to tell us what's going on." Annabeth now addresses everyone, "Just treat her normally. If she doesn't answer or is quiet, leave it be. We need to get her back to herself."

"If Leo was here..." Piper trails off but we all know what she was about to say.

 _If Leo was here, he would be able to get her back to normal in no time._

Leo'd just crack a few jokes, poke fun at Frank and Hazel's relationship and then Hazel would either laugh, slap him or die of embarrassment. Simple.

But none of us are Leo. And none of us are keen to replace him.

We all split off, Annabeth's words in mind. I spot Frank and Hazel standing by the railing with- is that a weasel?

The ship suddenly lurches forward and alarms go off. I stumble and fall. In the corner of my eye I see Hazel trip and nearly fall overboard if Frank hadn't grabbed her arm.

"What's happening?!" I yell to Annabeth.

I race to the railing as Annabeth calls back, "It's some kind of giant turt-"

Percy cuts her off, "Holy Styx! It's huge!"

Zoé and Piper come running from below.

"Turtle!" Piper yells.

The turtle is the size of a small island. It's like one of those monsters from movies that eats everything in it's path. And currently-

"It's eating the oars!" Annabeth yells from the helm.

Piper's dragons come racing up the stairs and race to the railing where Percy is trying to get a better look.

"Piper!" Percy shouts. "Get your stupid dragons away before they jump overboard!"

Piper shouts an order at her dragons and they immediately disappear back down the stairs. The ship lurches again and I steady myself on a wall.

I rush to the helm with Percy and look around desperately.

"There!" I shout in Annabeth's ear. "Those straits!"

Annabeth flinches away from me and clutches her ears as she fiddles with a complicated looking control panel next to the wheel.

There's what, twenty, thirty yards between the straits? The Argo 2 will make it through, hopefully. But the turtle's giant shell has no chance of fitting.

The turtle head-butts the ship and I stumble forward, accidentally pressing a button on the control panel. Suddenly, the ship rockets forward, towards the straits and passes through them narrowly. It's all I can do to not fall off, though.

Annabeth looks at the control panel in shock, "Leo has been working on a few things."

"What was that?" Piper asks, stumbling towards us.

Percy peers back at the turtle, "Definitely _not_ one of Dad's."

Hazel, Frank and Zoé join us.

"At least we're away from it," I say, shaking my head. "Annabeth can you get us through the other end?"

"I don't think that's going to work," Annabeth says, in an eerily calm voice, pointing ahead of us.

Percy curses loudly. The long strip of land bordering the straits curves in and ends in a V shape. We aren't in a strait, this is a dead end.

"It's a trap," Hazel says calmly.

Everyone looks at her strangely.

"Why would you think that?" I ask in confusion. "And why do you have a weasel?"

The weasel barks at me and passes gas.

"It's not a weasel, it's a polecat," Hazel says.

"Never mind," Piper says. "At least we're safe here."

An arrow sprouts from the wall six inches from her face.

Everyone drops into a crouch and looks at where the arrow was shot from. Piper ducks behind a crate and I creep closer to the railing.

"Hazel, get down," Annabeth orders.

But Hazel strides up to the arrow and pulls it free of the wood, "There's a note."

Hazel scans the note quickly and looks up, "He wants our valuables. All of them. Two of us have to take them to the top of the cliff. No flying or teleporting. Just climbing."

"Who wants our valuables?" Piper asks pointedly.

"Up there," Frank points. "Single archer."

And sure enough, if I can squint past the light of the sun, I can see him. A lone figure with the sunlight bouncing off his bronze armour.

"I'll go," Hazel says before anyone else has gotten past the shock.

"What?!" Percy splutters. "We're not actually giving in to this guy, are we?"

"Well, we can't exactly get him with the cannons," Frank points out. "He's got a huge advantage, being up there."

"Listen," Hazel says urgently. "I can go up there and summon all the valuables he needs. There's plenty in the cliff."

"I'll go with her," I offer. "A party of two, that's what he asked for."

Hazel doesn't look very pleased but nods reluctantly.

"Um, are you taking your weasel with you?" Percy asks.

Hazel nods, keeping her eyes carefully peeled to the note.

"How do we get up there?" I ask, peering up to the cliff.

Hazel points at a set of steep stairs imbedded in the cliff that I had somehow missed.

Percy lets out a low whistle, "He'd better not be expecting you anytime soon. That looks like at least a four day climb."

The trace of a smile plays at the corner of Hazel's lips.

* * *

Hazel climbs the last tall step and pulls herself out of sight. I hurry to catch up with her, my legs trembling from the climb.

"Where is he?" I wonder.

"Hello!"

A man appears a mere four metres away and I flinch. A bow and quiver is strapped to his back and he is holding a pistol in each hand. He is wearing leather boots and breaches and a white shirt. The bandit has curly black hair and friendly green eyes. A red bandanna covers the lower half of his face.

"Welcome!" The bandit says cheerfully, pointing his pistols at us. "Your valuables or your lives!"

"Who are you?" I ask, taking a step in front of Hazel and gently pushing her behind me.

Hazel reappears at my side and scowls at me. We face the bandit together.

"Sciron, of course," the bandit waves a pistol in the air. "Now where are your valuables? I don't see them, so I guess I'll just have to-"

"We have them," I cut in, glancing quickly at Hazel. "Well, we can get them."

"Well, I'd suggest you hurry up and get them," Sciron says.

"Wait," I say, placing a hand on Hazel's arm which she immediately brushes off. "How do we know you'll let us go?"

Sciron grins, "That's easy. I swear on the River Styx, if you give me your valuables I will send you right back down that cliff!"

I nod at Hazel, she closes her eyes and the ground below me rumbles. I crouch, lightly touching the ground with my hand as to keep balance. Sciron stumbles slightly before regaining his balance. Suddenly, all around me, the ground erupts and piles of gold, diamonds, rubies and all kinds of ancient jewellery.

I stand up cautiously and Hazel opens her eyes. She observes the surrounding precious gems and priceless jewellery with obvious distaste. Hazel plucks a large diamond from a pile as high as her waist and throws it at Sciron's feet.

"There's your valuables, Sciron. Now let us go!" Hazel demands.

Sciron takes in the surrounding valuables with a greedy look, "Very well. This seems adequate." Hazel snorts loudly. "But before you go, I always demand that my victims wash my feet as a sign of respect."

I cough, "Wash your feet?"

Sciron kicks off his leather boots and I gag. His feet are the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. His jagged toenails are yellow and green and each toe has little tufts of brown hair coming out of it.

And then there's the smell, but you know what? I'll spare you the details.

"So," Sciron says cheerfully. "Who wants left and who wants right?"

"Can we have a second to talk?" Hazel requests.

Sciron nods wisely, "Of course. It's a big decision, left foot, right foot."

Hazel gives him a grim smile and navigates her way through the pile of treasure. I follow as well as I can, only crushing something important under my foot once in a while.

"He's going to push us off the cliff," Hazel says lowly.

"What?'

"When you kneel down to wash his feet. He kicks you off the cliff and into the mouth of his turtle," Hazel says.

I look at her closely, "What do you think we should do? Fight?"

"No," Hazel says. "This is my problem."

I rest a hand on her shoulder, "Hazel, you know we're all here for-"

Hazel shrugs off my hand, scowling, "I know. I mean this is a test for me. Just follow my lead. When he kicks you off, catch yourself before you get swallowed. The rest is up to me."

I look at her doubtfully but she stares obstinately back.

"Okay," I say, shrugging. "Just don't get yourself killed."

Hazel nods curtly and swiftly makes her way back to Sciron. I stumble after her.

"Well?" Sciron demands. "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes," I say, unwillingly taking a step towards him. "I'll go first. I'll wash your left foot, Sciron."

Sciron grins and hops over to a rock, placing his foot on it like he's just claimed a new country. He throws one of his guns at me, which changes into a spray bottle and cloth halfway.

"Get to it, boy," Sciron orders. "These babies aren't going to clean themselves."

I take a few steps towards him and drop to my knees next to the cliff edge. I start to clean.

This is a horrible idea. Sciron will surely see me hovering halfway down the cliff. He'll just shoot me from up here and finish off Hazel as well. By the time the kick comes, I'm honestly considering taking my chance and attacking him.

Even though I am expecting it, when Sciron's foot slams into my chest and sends me flying, I am momentarily dazed. I free fall towards the glistening ocean and the giant turtle surfaces. I catch myself six metres above the turtle and hover there. The turtle leaps up from the water for me and I jolt up two more metres.

I see Sciron peer off the cliff and look directly at me, but he makes no move to shoot me and his head disappears from my line of vision.

I hover for a few minutes on my back, gathering my wits then shoot up to the top of the cliff, sword in hand. I reach the top just in time to see Hazel push Sciron off the cliff. I quickly dodge him and land beside her.

I watch as the giant turtle leaps up and swallows Sciron whole. The ground rumbles and the many mounds of treasure sink back into the earth. I sheathe my sword.

"Let's go, Hazel," I say.

Hazel nods and turns away from the cliff. We walk back in complete silence.

 **-SAW**


	5. Chapter 5

**Calypso**

I don't like the way Nico talks about Zoé.

I'm saying that now so I can get it off my chest. I don't like the way he says Zoé's name or talks about her in the way that he does.

But other than that, he seems alright. I mean he did make Leo fetch a chocolate bar as some sort of test to see if he is worthy. But to be fair, Leo doesn't look like much.

I roll over on the bed, feeling slightly guilty because Leo has to sleep on the couch. This place has basically three rooms, Nico's room, Iapetus's room which triples as the dining and living room and this room. Zoé's.

My/Zoé's room is roughly carved out. There is no wardrobe, no table, no chairs. Just a extremely large bed and a couch.

I hear Leo shift on the couch. "Calypso? You awake?"

Yes, we are sharing the same room, get over it.

"Yeah," I whisper back. "Can't sleep."

The couch gives a long creak and I turn over to see a dark figure come towards me. Leo kneels next to the bed and I rest my head on my elbow, propping myself up.

"What do you think?" Leo asks, and I immediately know what he is talking about.

"I'm not sure, they seem trustworthy," I say.

Leo snorts quietly. "Trustworthy. Not nice- definitely not nice, but trustworthy. Jerk made me risk my life for a chocolate bar."

I smirk into the darkness. "Still upset about that?"

Leo mutters a few swear words about chocolate bars, Nico and I.

I laugh softly as to not wake anyone, "There's no point saying that under your breath, I can still hear you."

"I know."

"What do you think of them?" I ask after a pause.

"Nico is...interesting," Leo says ever so wisely. "The way he talks about Zoé.. I think he's got the ho-"

"Stop, right now," I say firmly. "I really don't need to be hearing that."

"What do you think about Zoé?" I say curiously.

"Zoé? She's well- she's sorta- she's uh. She's Zoé," Leo says with true eloquence.

"You remembering that hand?" I laugh quietly.

Leo rubs his hand. "She's strong, alright. She's also really intimidating and-"

I laugh again. "I get it, Leo. It's alright."

I sit up completely and prop up my pillow. I pat the spot next to me and motion for Leo to come sit, which he does hesitantly.

"Are you alright without the Phlegethon?" I ask. "You seem okay."

Leo shrugs. "I dunno. I think it did something to my system. Like, updated it or something. I'm breathing fine now."

"What does that mean, when we get back above?" I ask in a faked indifferent voice. "If your system, and mine too, really, has adjusted to the Tartarus air, what does that mean when we go back? I don't think it'll work somehow."

Leo listens to my little rant thoughtfully. "Did Zoé have trouble breathing when she got back up?"

"I don't know," I say snappily. "Her breathing was slightly heavy, but no more. But Zoé was gradually brought back. She was put in a jar with slightly better air but still pretty poisonous. That was a halfway for her. Nico'll be fine because he was built for this as a son of the underworld."

"Cal, calm down," Leo orders. "We can just bring some of the ever-so-delicious fire water with us."

I shudder. "Wonderful. It sounded really pleasant when you had it, and now we have to bring some back?!"

Leo rolls his eyes in the darkness. "Did you miss the whole calm down bit?"

I sigh and lay down, staring up at the ceiling. After a minute, I raise my arms and curl my hands into fists. When I open them, hundreds of little flickering specks of fire spread into the air.

Leo lays down beside me. "That's amazing."

* * *

When I open my eyes Leo is laying next to me, his eyes closed. I carefully get out of bed, unsure whether it will creak, and regard Leo's sleeping form. I shake my head and turn away. I undo my hair from it's ponytail and messily redo it.

I walk out of the room and into the living room. I sit down with Iapetus and Nico at the table. I look cautiously at the food on the table, not recognising it.

"What is this?" I ask Nico, nodding at the plate of food.

"Chicken nuggets," Nico replies. "Not the healthiest breakfast, but it's better then the other things we have."

I take a bite out of one and pull a face, "Are they supposed to be cold?"

"No," Nico says. "But we haven't got anything to heat them with."

I look at him, exasperated, "This is Tartarus. Can't you just scoop up some of the Phlegethon and heat it with that?"

Nico shrugs, "Haven't got the time."

I sigh and bring up a small flame into my hand. I carefully apply it to the plate of chicken nuggets and after a few minutes pull it away. I pick one up and take a satisfying bite.

Nico looks at me distantly, "Zoé used to do that."

I clench my hand with out my food and try not to punch him.

Leo walks in rubbing his eyes, "Morning."

"Good morning," I say, passing him the plate.

"Have a nice sleep?" Nico asks, his eyes glinting. "I came to wake you, but you looked too comfortable."

Leo turns red and I look away quickly, "When are we leaving?"

"As soon as breakfast is over," Nico says. "Bob and I have enough food saved up for the trip."

"We will follow the Phlegethon?" I ask.

Iapetus nods in confirmation.

"Have you got any spare metal flasks?" I ask, drawing a strange look from Nico.

"Yes," Iapetus answers. "Several. Enough for your needs."

I give him a small smile then look at Leo, "You done?"

"Yep," Leo nods.

"Alright," I say. "Let's get going."

Iapetus pushes his chair back with a loud scraping noise. He picks up a large bag and slings it over his shoulder. He then passes me a smaller drawstring bag which makes a clinking noise when I take it. I peer curiously inside it.

"Ten flasks," Iapetus says. "I had a feeling you'd need them. They hold twice their size and weight the same as it usually would."

"Thank you, Iapetus," I say, slipping the bag into my backpack.

Nico picks up a bag similar in design to Iapetus' and slips it onto his back. He takes one last wistful look around the room before walking out of the door without hesitation.

I secure my backpack on my back and follow him out the door. I glance back when I hear Iapetus close the door, and I can no longer see any evidence of the former home of a Titan, demigod and demi-titan.

"How far are we from the Phlegethon?" I ask.

"Fifteen minutes west," Nico says promptly.

"How do we tell which way is west?" Leo asks.

"It's this way," Nico says curtly, walking away.

I walk after him with Leo by my side. Iapetus lumbers along behind us.

"But how do you know?" Leo asks. "The sun rises in the west and sets in the east, but there's no sun here. How do you know?"

"Leo," I say. "The sun rises in the east."

There's an awkward pause where Leo blushes heavily and tries to find words.

Nico takes one look at Leo before shooting me a sarcastic look, "Really? You fell for him, of all people?"

I don't know if Nico realised what he said but Leo looks away quickly and I blush. Nico looks away too and I immediately know it's to hide a smirk.

I direct my concentration at Nico's ankles and suddenly when he takes another step, he falls over and lands roughly on the ground.

I continue walking, 'accidentally' kicking Nico's feet out from underneath him as he scrambles to get up. I send a sly wink at Leo as I haul Nico up with all of my power and step aside as he stumbles forward, falling once again over a large rock.

"You deserved that," I say calmly.

Then I continue west.

"Keep up, Nico," I taunt, glancing over my shoulder.

Nico glares at me while Leo and Iapetus snicker.

"How do you reckon the quest is going?" Leo asks, catching up to me.

"Horribly," I state. "They're probably already dead or being tortured at the hands of Gaia."

"Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine," Leo remarks.

"They'll survive, Valdez," I say dryly. "I can't say the same about us, though. Pick up the pace."

Leo speeds up to match my hastened pace, "Do you reckon Frank and Hazel are okay? What about Annabeth and Percy? Or Piper and Jason. Or Zoé?"

I sigh deeply, "Leo, right now Annabeth and Percy are trying to take over as leaders. Hazel or Frank is really depressed. Piper is doing her best to keep the group together and Jason, well, doing everything he can. Most of them blame themselves for us falling into Tartarus and they are all struggling to work together as a team. All in all, no Leo. I don't think they're doing okay."

"That was...detailed," Leo says hesitantly.

"It's the truth," I say firmly. "You didn't spend as much time studying them as I did."

"I studied Festus," Leo says. "Does that count for anything?"

I do my normal thing and ignore him.

"Hey, do you reckon Haz-"

"One more word, Valdez. And I will knock you out and put you in Iapetus' bag," I warn.

"She's right," Nico grumbles. "Shut up, already."

"Bobby, old pal," Leo says nervously, gulping. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

Iapetus regards Leo with his silvery eyes, "I believe there is enough room."

Leo is silent for the rest of the trip to the river.

The river bubbles and spits with a lava-like liquid, lighting up our surrounding area. I scan the rocky plains twice before crouching down beside the river and pulling my backpack off my shoulders.

I pull out the bag with the flasks and glance at Leo. "Don't push me in."

I kneel and lean slightly over the river, scooping up the liquid and filling each flask to the brim. I sniff the liquid fire in the last flask before quickly closing it, a look of distaste on my face.

"Where to now?" I ask Nico.

"We should get away from the river," Nico replies. "It's too obvious. Too bright."

"Says the son of Hades," Leo mutters.

Nico grasps the hilt of his sword. "Something you'd like to say to me, Valdez?"

"Which way do you suggest?" I cut in quickly as Leo opens his mouth.

"We cross," Nico says. "Get closer to the Lethe."

"I can't teleport in here," I say, making Nico and Iapetus look confused, having not known that I could teleport in the first place. "Leo, can you build something?"

"Sure," Leo says smugly. "Would you like a celestial bronze, retractable bridge? Or maybe a-"

"Just get me a fireproof boat," I say, rolling my eyes.

Leo looks slightly disappointed but sets about his task. In no time, I have a stable looking boat made out of rocks and the minor amount of celestial bronze that Leo could fit into his tool belt.

"It's not much," Leo says examine his work. "But I need to be able to take it apart for the celestial bronze later, never know when we'll need it again. The rocks here in Tartarus are surprisingly good for building with. I think I'll bring some back to upgrade the Argo."

I don't have the heart to tell him that we might not make it back.

"You want one of us to carry rocks in our bags?" Nico asks, raising an eyebrow. "Please take a moment to consider how stupid you sound."

Leo looks at me pleadingly and I sigh. "Grab your pebbles Valdez. But I swear if they knock over anything important in my bag, I will kill you."

Leo happily collects a small group of large rocks and I pack them carefully into my bag while Nico and Iapetus wait impatiently.

I suddenly spot a movement over Leo's shoulder as something small darts behind a boulder.

"What was that?!" I ask quickly, pointing.

I quickly summon my bow and Leo grabs his dagger. I edge forward as Nico draws his sword.

"Wait!" I say, throwing a hand behind me as the thing behind the boulder comes into view. "It's not a monster!"

I take a closer look at the creature. "It's a dog."

 **-SAW**


	6. Chapter 6

**Piper McLean**

We're still recovering from the giant turtle attack.

Annabeth has set us all to work, repairing the oars as best as we can. It took us a full day, but we're back on the move now.

No one but Hazel seems to know what happened on that cliff. I know for a fact that I saw Jason get eaten by the turtle. No one else was on deck with me. They were all preparing for the possible fight. So, I was the only one who saw Jason die. I was a complete mess until Jason and Hazel came back. No one believes me when I explain what I saw. They think I was seeing things, or it was a trick from Gaia.

I know what I saw.

"Hey, Pipes," Jason appears at my door. "Are you alright?"

I can't help but be slightly relieved at Jason's appearance. Last night I dreamed about him falling off the cliff again.

I nod and swing my legs over the bed. "Yeah. Is it breakfast time?"

Jason looks slightly guiltily at me. "Well, sort of. No one but you, Hazel and Annabeth know how to cook. Annabeth is steering and Hazel is still in her room, so we were hoping you could wake Hazel and make something quick?"

I smile. "Be up in a few."

Jason gives me a grateful look and disappears out the door.

I uselessly run my hands down my outfit, smoothing crumples that aren't actually there, due to Aphrodite. Ever since I've been claimed as her daughter, my clothes have never been crumpled, my hair has never been knotted and my wardrobe full of clothes that are comfortable enough (no dresses, skirts or anything extravagant), but are made of the the most expensive material Aphrodite could lay her hands on.

It's very irritating.

I slip on my shoes and put up my hair in a messy bun. I attach a leather sheath to my belt and slip Katoptris into it. I stride confidently out of my room and knock sharply on Hazel's door before walking in.

"Morning, Hazel," I say brightly, switching the lights onto a low setting.

Hazel sits up slowly and rubs at her eyes. "What are you doing, Piper?"

"Waking you up," I say cheerfully, heading towards her wardrobe.

I send a silent prayer to my mother and when I open the door, the wardrobe is filled with clothes, as oppose to the two outfits she had before. I select a pair of black jeggings, a black long-sleeve black top covered in stars and a short denim jacket.

I toss the outfit onto Hazel's bed and she looks at it in surprise. "That wasn't in my wardrobe before."

I smile breezily at her. "Don't question it."

I've taken the job of getting Hazel back to normal personally, and I am doing as much as I can do alone.

Hazel unsurely gets out of bed, cautiously picks up the outfit and heads into the small bathroom attached to her room. When she comes out, I've assigned myself the job of making her bed.

"You don't have to do that," Hazel says, hovering awkwardly in the doorway.

I smile radiantly at her. "It's no trouble."

I pat the spot next to me on the bed and Hazel sits.

"Got a brush?" I ask.

Hazel nods and picks up a ratty hairbrush from her bedside table. I take it from her and begin gently unknotting her hair. I brush out her hair and pull it to the side. I carefully braid it over her shoulder and then fish a black hair tie out of my pocket, tying it off.

"There," I say, moving back to admire my work. "Perfect."

I bring Hazel over to a mirror. "Look alright to you?"

Hazel manages a small (fake) smile, "Thank you."

I frown slightly before clearing my face. "Alright. The boys and Zoé need help with breakfast. They can't use the stove, oven or the microwave without blowing something up. Let's go help them."

I pull Hazel along by the hand and into the dining room. I give everyone a quick smile as I drag Hazel into the kitchen. "Hi! Bye!"

"How about we just heat up some of the hash browns for them," I suggest, already pulling the box out of the cupboard, not expecting an argument.

Hazel silently switches on the griller and I pull fourteen hash browns out of the large box. I frown slightly as Hazel puts one of the hash browns back and I immediately put it back.

"You are having two, whether you like it or not," I say sternly to Hazel.

Hazel gives a half frown, half smile at that but doesn't protest.

I check the griller. "This is taking too long, let's just put them in the sandwich press."

Hazel helps me transfer them to the sandwich press and switches off the griller. I wait patiently for the food to finish while Hazel gets out seven plates. The light on the sandwich press turns green and I quickly and carefully get the hash browns onto their plates.

I carefully pick up two plates in each hand and nod towards the other three plates. "Can you get them, Hazel?"

Hazel picks up two plates and balances the third between both of her hands. She looks somewhat nervously at the wobbling four plates that I am carrying before walking into the dining room. I follow her slowly.

Percy grins at us when he sees the food and quickly takes two plates from me and places them in front of Zoé and Frank before taking the delicately balanced plate from Hazel, who cringes unnoticeably to anyone but me.

I drop the last plate in front of Jason and give him a quick kiss before taking one of the plates from Hazel and taking her by the hand. "Let's eat with Annabeth."

As soon as we're out of the dining room I let go of Hazel's hand and frown at her slightly. "You need to relax around Percy. He's going mad trying to see what he did wrong."

"He didn't do anything wrong," Hazel says quietly.

"But he still thinks he did," I point out, leading Hazel towards the prow.

"Hey Annabeth," I say, giving Annabeth her plate.

"Hey, Piper, Hazel," Annabeth says, taking the plate before concentrating on steering.

We eat in silence for a while before I finish my food. I stand up straight and take Hazel and Annabeth's empty plates. "I'm gonna put these away and get some juice. You two want me to get you one?"

"Yes, please," Annabeth smiles.

"Just water, please," Hazel says quietly.

I nod and head below deck. I pass Frank in the dining room and smile at him. The others must have already gone to their rooms. I stack the dishes into the sink and clear the rest of the plates from the table, humming along to a song.

I pour out two glasses of apple juice and one glass of water. I walk into the dining room and freeze. The pictures on the walls that give images of Camp Half-Blood in its current state are flickering.

"What's happening?" Frank asks, coming to stand beside me.

As a precaution I put down the glasses and draw my dagger. "I'm not sure. Leo did really well with the images, he was really proud about it. Why would they act up now?"

"Let's go tell the others," Frank suggests, heading towards the door and slinging a backpack over his shoulder.

"Wait!" I shout. The images have stopped flickering and changed changed to grotesque and monkey-like face.

Frank turns at gapes at the images. Just then I see a movement behind him.

"Watch out!" I shout as I hurl Katoptris at the small figure.

The small creature dodges easily and picks up my dagger. "Oooh. Shiny."

It then scampers out of the room, Frank turning just in time to get a glimpse of it. "Was that a dwarf?"

"Worse," I say grimly, turning the the face on the wall. "A thieving dwarf. And it brought a friend."

I hear a yell above deck and rush for the stairs. "Come on, Frank!"

I take the stairs two at a time but am immediately flung backwards when I reach the top of the stairs. A bright light sears my eyes and I am caught by Frank.

I get up. "Thanks Frank."

I dash back up the stairs and make it safely to the top this time. Hazel and Percy are lying side by side, unconscious. Annabeth is tied up heavily by the wheel and I make for her, dropping to my knees beside her. "What happened?"

"Don't know how they got up here," Annabeth rushes. "They took most of our weapons. I think Jason, Zoé and Jason got taken out first downstairs because Percy came running up. They took Leo's Archimedes sphere and Festus' control disk."

I glance back at Frank. "You've still got your bow, right?"

Frank nods and takes off his backpack, which morphs into a bow and quiver.

"Good," I say, standing up. "You're coming with me to get back our stuff."

"Where are we?" I direct at Annabeth.

"Venice," Annabeth says promptly. "Hurry."

"Can you give us a lift?" I ask Frank.

Frank slings his bow over his shoulder, once again in the shape of a backpack and transforms into a giant eagle. I climb on and grin at Annabeth, who is already working at the knots on her wrists. We take off and I seat myself so that I don't fall off.

"Let's go catch some thieves."

* * *

We lose them in the park.

It was quite easy to follow them. The dwarves weren't exactly hiding. They had run through busy streets, leaving a trail of people without wallets or purses.

Frank touches down on the path and I jump off. Frank changes back into a human and scans the area. There's virtually no one here. The only sign of actual human civilisation is some old footprints on the dirt path.

"Which way?" I ask Frank in a hushed voice.

"They were heading this way," Frank points.

Of course it's off the footpath.

I subconsciously reach of my dagger as we enter the woods then silently curse when my fingers come upon nothing. Frank notices my discomfort and frowns. "Sorry. I should've carried my spear on me. The dwarves probably took it."

"It's okay," I say, grateful for the excuse to talk. "I probably would've been awful with it, anyway. I only learnt how to fight with a dagger and I'm pretty good with a sword."

Frank pulls a face, "At Camp Jupiter, they insisted that we learn how to fight with at least five weapons."

"What ones did you learn?" I ask.

"Spear, sword, bow- which was frowned upon-, gladius and javelin," Frank says, frowning. "We're here."

We arrive in a clearing with a giant statue of Neptune. I avert my eyes and spot two dwarves sitting on Poseid- Neptune's arm.

"Frank," I say warningly. "Heads up."

"Hello," one of the dwarves says happily.

Both dwarves carry large sacks on their shoulders and have dirty and grimy clothes and skin. They both have monkey like features and identical grins on their faces.

"Who are you?" I ask instinctively.

"The Kerkopes!" The other dwarf says happily. "I am Akmon, and this is my brother Passalos!"

I glance at Frank and he nods encouragingly. "Do your thing."

"Give us back our stuff," I say as convincingly as I can.

"No, no, no," Akmon says, shaking his head at me. "No charmspeak. Bad girl."

Then he launches himself at me.

I instinctively turn so the dwarf will go flying past me, but instead Akmon hits me in the right shoulder and knocks me to the floor.

I am momentarily dazed as the dwarf scrambles off me, lightly touching on my arm and wrist before leaving. I sit up and reach for my wrist, growling at the missing charm bracelet.

"That was a gift from Mum," I say angrily, taking Frank's hand and standing up.

I give Frank a look and he draws his bow. "Give us our stuff, now."

Passalos and Akmon exchange a look before leaping up. "Got to go now. Urgent meeting."

As the jump away through the trees, Frank manages to put an arrow through Passalos' burlap sack and the bag tears, dropping a few items onto the ground. Passalos hesitates and looks back at them, then he catches sight of Frank's bow again and bolts off.

I quickly run to the items that Passalos dropped. I scan them quickly. No Katoptris. Someone's wallet, a gold watch and-

"A sword," Franks smiles, looking at me. "You can use a sword."

I pick up the jagged sword and spin it experimentally. I grin at Frank. "This just got a lot harder for the dwarves."

 **-SAW**


	7. Chapter 7

**Calypso**

"I know this dog," I say. "Zeus turned it to stone a long time ago."

The dog makes its way towards me and looks up at me expectantly. I'm no expert on dogs, but I'm pretty sure this is what they call a Labrador. I wait a few seconds to make sure it isn't attacking before kneeling beside it and softly running my hand through it's fur.

"What could a dog possibly do to make Zeus do a Medusa?" Leo asks. The dog barks at him.

"This is Laelaps," I say. "He's a dog destined to always catch it's prey. Someone sent it after the Teumessian fox, a fox that could never be caught. It created a paradox. The dog that always caught it's prey, against the fox that could never be caught. Zeus decided it was too complicated for his tiny brain and killed them to make it simpler."

"So where's the fox?" Nico asks.

"I hope not down here," I say, looking around. "The fox was a big pest back then, always stealing and messing with people's stuff."

"Let's take him with us," Leo suggests. "He seems to like you, and he can like, protect us or something."

"Also you'd like a pet," I say, rolling my eyes.

"We should take him," Nico says. "If he likes you enough to obey you, you can order him to protect us. If he likes you enough, that is."

Leo grins. "There's always one way to find out. Cal, tell Laelaps to hunt down Ni-"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence," Nico cuts in, glaring. "This is no joke, Valdez."

I shrug thoughtfully. "It is a funny picture, if you think about it. A dog chasing you across Tartarus."

Nico scowls. "Just get on the stupid boat."

Leo pushes the boat into the river and it bobs slightly. Leo keeps one hand on it so it doesn't get carried away. I leap nimbly onto it first and the boat sinks a few inches before bobbing up one inch.

"Seems stable enough," I say. "Are you sure it'll hold our combined weight?"

"Absolutely not," Leo says. "Wanna go next Nico?"

Nico grasps the hilt of his sword then releases it and climbs onto the boat. It goes down an inch and stays there. I sit down, cross my legs and lean back against the boat's side. Leo gets on next and Laelaps jumps in after and settles himself on my lap. I don't mind the extra weight and stroke him.

I look at Iapetus curiously when he makes no move to get on. "You joining us?"

Iapetus shakes his head. "Your boat will not hold me. I will meet you at the Doors...with an ally."

"An ally?" I ask. "In Tartarus?"

"Yes," Iapetus says with complete certainty. "Go, I will meet you there."

Nico glares at Iapetus. "You'd better."

I nod goodbye to Iapetus and give Leo a look.

Leo raps sharply against the side of the boat and a panel opens up. He clicks a button and the boat lurches forward, an engine sounding loudly. The sudden movement causes me to grab the side of the boat and Nico to fall on top of me. I push Nico off carelessly and tilt back my head so it's resting on top of the side of the boat. I stare at the high, rocky ceiling.

"Did you say this was a river or a freaking ocean?" Leo shouts over the engine. "This thing goes on forever!"

Nico gathers himself and arranges himself in a sitting position. "Next time, Valdez, give us a little warning."

"Sorry," Leo says without a hint of regret. "It would've been awful if you'd gone overboard."

I guess Leo is getting a bit tired of Nico's comments and stupid tests. Good for him, I guess. He just doesn't need to kill our allies along the way.

"We need a plan for getting to the Doors of Death," I say, pushing myself into a more alert position. "You can guarantee they've got every monster in Tartarus looking for us. Our little stunt by the statue probably didn't go unnoticed, one of the demons that didn't attack would've notified the Giants."

"We need to get past the Doors unseen. They'll have a whole army waiting to go up to the mortal world and three demigods and a Titan cannot defeat them all. We need to sneak into the Doors."

"You're talking about invisibility," Nico points out.

"Wait," Leo says. "Can you still do that?"

"No," I shake my head. "A lot of my major powers aren't working down here. I don't know why."

I actually do have an idea why, but it's too complicated to explain. I believe that since I learnt those powers in the mortal world, in probably the most environmentally friendly, and unpolluted place on earth, those powers don't work in the complete opposite environment. It seems far fetched, but if you think about it, it makes sense.

"Great, you guys got any other types of invisibility?" Leo asks.

Nico gains a thoughtful look.

"What?" I ask, looking at Nico.

"If you've got something, feel free to share it with the group," Leo agrees sarcastically.

"Bob knows a goddess," Nico starts thoughtfully. "A very depressing goddess. But she can help hide us. Shroud us all in a mist so thick, that our enemies cannot see through it."

"Invisibility?" Leo asks hopefully.

"Close," Nico says. "Death Mist."

"No," I say immediately. "We cannot trust Akhlys."

"We've got no choice," Nico points out.

"Wait, wait, wait," Leo says. "Hold up a second. Who is Akhlys? And what the Hades is Death Mist?"

I bring up a hand to grip my necklace tightly. "The Death Mist is the mist that shrouds mortals in misery as they pass into the Underworld. It's the very essence of Tartarus. The breath of misery and despair."

Leo grimaces. "Sounds like fun. Lots of fun."

"Akhlys is the goddess of the Death Mist, misery, pain and poison," I continue. "The only way we get her Mist is if we die." I pause. "Or torture it out of her."

"It's a horrible idea," I say to Nico. "Torturing isn't my style and I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"I'm open to ideas if you've got any," Nico says.

I stay silent.

"It's decided then," Nico says. "Akhlys is right on the other side of the bend of the Lethe."

"I thought this place was a circle," Leo says. Nico nods in confirmation. "Then how is she on the outside of the circle?"

"She's a goddess," Nico deadpans. "The outer circle is filled with the gods of Tartarus and the worst monsters in existence. Ones that you don't see in the mortal world. The Titans and Giants used to live there too. But lately they've been more active, preparing for the war, I guess."

I glance at Leo. "Why don't we just take the boat all the way there? Saves us the walk."

Leo's eyes light up. I can tell he's glad to be helpful, he can't feel very useful around a son of the Big Three, a sorceress, and a Titan.

Nico looks uncomfortable and I prompt him. "If anything it would be faster than walking. And this way we don't have to either lug the boat the whole way there or reassemble it when we get there."

Nico nods in acceptance.

"Great," I say. "Leo, can you set something up to get us a time estimate?"

"Aren't you worried that he's going to fall overboard?" Nico asks, nodding at Laelaps.

Laelaps is leaning over the side of the boat and pawing at the spitting lava thar occasionally pops up.

My eyes travel to Leo, who is also leaning over the side of the boat and staring at the spitting lava. "Which one?"

Nico smirks as he too looks at Leo.

"Laelaps," I order. "Away from the edge."

Laelaps obediently comes over to me and puts his head in my lap.

"You might want to tell that to your little boyfriend too," Nico says, watching Leo.

I resist the urge to punch Nico in the face and lean forward, grabbing the back of Leo's t-shirt and pulling him away from the edge.

"You're going to fall overboard," I say in response to Leo's confused look.

"Yes Valdez," Nico says sarcastically. "Heel."

I catch the flash of anger of Leo's eyes and I glare at Nico. "How much longer, Leo? I don't think I can handle much longer on this boat without punching a certain someone in the face."

Leo grins at me. "Our ETA is currently at five minutes."

I nod then frown. "E-T-A? Eta? The greek H?"

"It's an abbreviation," Leo explains. "It's stands for Estimated Time of Arrival."

We have long ago crossed into the Lethe. I didn't notice at first, but then when I looked down, the water had suddenly changed from its fiery red to a pitch black river. Laelaps had backed away in alarm. Leo had been amazed. Nico and I had been indifferent.

The boat lightly bumps against the side of the river and I carefully climb out, grabbing onto the boat and holding it steadily to cover the gap between the boat and ground. When everyone is off, Leo helps me lift the boat out of the water, careful not to splash any water or touch the bottom of the boat.

I look at Leo warily. "We're going to still need it for crossing the river back later."

"I won't disassemble it," Leo promises.

He hits a button on the inside of the boat and it suddenly shrinks into a toy-size ship in a small puddle of Lethe water. Leo picks up the boat and wipes off the bottom of the boat on a patch of dead grass, before slipping it into his pocket.

"Let's go find the goddess," Leo prompts when no one moves.

Nico comes to life and starts leading us through a thicket of woods.

 _Goddess of poison, pain, misery and Death Mist_ , I think repeatedly.

I try to think of a strategy to defeat Akhlys when she turns on us, but I can't. It will be impossible to get close enough to Akhlys without choking on poison or drowining in misery. Why Akhlys is considered a minor goddess, I have no idea. She is a good deal more powerful than many of the Olympians.

"We're here," Nico whispers at the same time as I start hearing horrible sobbing.

I can't help but feel pity for the crying goddess in front of me. Akhlys is a sobbing mess on the floor, an old shield laying next to her.

"Akhlys!" Nico shouts boldly.

The weeping goddess slows her crying to look up at us. "What do you want?"

"We need you to give us your Death Mist," Nico says.

The hag hisses in what I realise is laughter. "And why would I do that?"

"To help us," I say confidently.

Akhlys' eyes snap to me but she makes no inquiries as to who I am. "Help you? The Death Mist does not help people. It shrouds mortals in utter misery as they die. It is the breath of Tartarus himself!"

"Almost word for word," Leo mutters and I smirk at him.

"Ask me for a more sensible gift," Akhlys hisses. "I can give you death from a thousand poisons." Akhlys plucks a flower from the plant covered ground at her feet and offers it to us. "Hemlock. It can give you nausa, complete paralysis, death in only three hours."

"Sounds awesome," Leo says. "Why don't you try it first, though?"

Akhlys glares at him with her watery eyes. "Foolish demigod. Being the goddess of poison does not make me immune!"

At her words an idea surfaces in my head and I quickly shake it out. _You said torturing isn't your style, Calypso. Now follow it through._

Akhlys suddenly gets a strange glint in her eyes. "Very well, demigods. I will give you my Death Mist."

Akhlys turns and hobbles off into the gloom.

"It's a trap," I say to Nico. "I told you this was a horrible idea."

Nico scowls but nods in agreement. "Should we go back? Try the Doors without the Death Mist?"

I look at him like he's an idiot. "Of course not."

And I follow the dusty footprints into the gloom distance.

* * *

We somehow end up near a cliff.

Akhlys hobbles over to the she without hesitation, leaving a trail of deadly flowers behind her.

"Do you feel it?" Akhlys asks, looking slightly excited for some reason.

I do feel it. The pull.

I put an arm out to stop Leo taking a step closer to the edge. Though it is unlikely that Akhlys will push us over the cliff out of all of the painful deaths she can give us, I'm not taking any chances.

I grab Leo's hand as the strange pull gets stronger. But it's no longer physical, it's like it's drawing some of my soul away for me. I look down at Leo and I's hands and I immediately drop his hand, gasping.

"What?" Leo asks. "Calypso, what?"

Leo gets a good look at me and gasps. He doesn't step away which I give him credit for but he looks frightened. Leo looks at his own body but his expression doesn't change. I realize, in relief, that he is not scared of me, but rather what has happened, to all of us.

"It worked," Nico says hoarsely.

I look at him and force myself not to wince. He looks just as bad as Leo and I must look. Dead, I guess.

I study Leo more closely and I spot a few things. The mischievous twinkle in Leo's eyes has diminished but is certainly still there. Leo is still relatively good looking and most importantly, despite how he looks, he's still alive.

More to reassure myself than anything, I wrap my arms around Leo cautiously in a hug. His skin is cold to the touch but he hugs me back.

Suddenly Nico collapses to the ground, clutching at his head while silent tears stream down his face. Nico mouths sorry over and over again. I don't know what he's seeing, but it can't be good.

I immediately let go of Leo and turn to Akhlys, drawing my ghostly bow. "What did you do to him?"

Akhlys cackles. "A minor dosage of misery."

"Minor?" I growl incredulously.

"It should be minor," Akhlys says. "But he has so much misery already that my lightest touch is devastating."

"Fix him," I hiss at the old hag.

Akhlys gives some sort of twisted laugh. "He will survive. A child of darkness...my mistress will want to meet him personally. You two on the other hand..."

I raise my bow defensively, already calculating in my head how long it will take for me to drop my bow and summon my knives.

Akhlys laughs again. "Go ahead, little traitor. Try to shoot me."

That's exactly what I do, but the arrow looks just like my bow and I. Transparent.

And it goes all the way through Akhlys' throat and out the other side.

I lower my bow in shock and Akhlys hisses in laughter. "Did I not mention that? You are only mist, now. A shadow before death. You cannot touch me."

My bow reappears back on my necklace as I drop it. I put a hand on Leo's as he starts to draw his dagger. "It's no use. I told Nico we should not come here."

Akhlys lunges at us and we split, I dive to the left while Leo dives to the right. I glance at Nico worriedly, but luckily Akhlys doesn't seem to be paying attention to him. Akhlys turns to me and lunges again. I dodge her attack and she hisses angrily. Talons sprout from her fingernails and I chance a help look at Leo.

Leo nods at me and I immediately dread what's going to happen.

"Hey Happy!" Leo yells.

What the Hades is he doing?

Akhlys spins to him. "Happy?"

I glare at Leo as he continues. "Yeah! You're absolutely cheerful!"

Akhlys lets out an agonised scream as lunges at Leo.

Leo barely dodges, turns so that Akhkys goes flying last him. "Cuddly!"

I turn and swing my backpack off my back. I quickly unzip it and rummage through my stuff. I silently curse Leo for all of the rocks I have to get past. Then I finally find what I'm looking for.

Leo screams from behind me and my fingers tighten on the small blue vial I got from Medea.

 **-SAW**


	8. Chapter 8

**Piper McLean**

We find them at the traffic lights.

Frank and I are jogging down the streets scanning for any thieving dwarves when I see it. All of the traffic lights in the area turn a bright pink. Then blue, then brown, then purple and then it just keeps changing.

I grab Frank's arm and point. "Look! Over there!"

"They'll be somewhere close," Frank speculates, scanning the area. "They'll want to see the chaos they cause."

I agreed with Frank. "They're like little kids. It's a game to them. So it'll be somewhere where it looks like a game. Not car crashes with real people getting injured. Somewhere where we all look like toys."

People are honking their horns now. The lights momentarily flash green and there's a resounding crash. A red car, a grey car and a black car collide loudly and Frank curses under his breath.

"Come on," I say, running towards the collision.

I reach the grey car first. It's been hit side on and the car door has been smashed in. I slash through the door with my new sword and pull it out of the way. I reach out my hand to the frightened boy who looks to be in his late teen years. He grasps my hand and I pull him out.

"Watch your head," I warn the man.

The man is covered in cuts from the glass and many pieces are still in his skin.

"Careful," I say, slipping my arm under the man's arms.

He leans heavily onto me and I help him over to the curb. Frank spots me by the curb and carries a woman in her thirties over.

"My knees," the woman says weakly. "I can't feel my knees."

"Don't worry," Frank reassures the woman as he sets her down beside the man. "An ambulance will be right with you."

"There are at least eighty people around this area," Frank says to me in a low voice. "There's no way someone hasn't called the hospital."

"Go help the person in the red car," I tell Frank. "I'll see what I can do for these two."

I give the man a once over. His blonde hair and face are covered in blood. He is wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and knee length shorts. His wrist is especially bloody and his arms and legs still have small pieces of glass in them.

I sigh and look at the woman. Other than her legs, she only has a few scrapes and scratches.

"I need water," I mutter under my breath, looking around desperately.

"Frank!" I shout. "Backpack!"

Frank looks up from where he is trying to get the driver out of the wreckage and throws me his backpack. Leo was the one who figured it out. I catch the bag as a bow and press a hidden button on the bow. Immediately, the bow changes back into a backpack and I unzip it. I find two bottles of water and a tea towel.

It's an unspoken rule that demigods must carry on them in a bag, a water bottle, a flash of nectar, some ambrosia, some sort of rag or cloth, bandages and band aids.

I offer one of the bottle to the woman. "Here, miss."

The woman takes the bottle shakily and I turn back to the boy.

"Okay," I say in a soothing voice. "I'm going to look at your wrist now."

I kneel beside him and gently take his wrist. I wet the cloth and start gently dabbing at his wrist, getting off the blood.

"What's your name?" I ask him as he winces.

"James," he replies and flinches.

"Okay, James," I say, wiping off most of the blood. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen," James says.

"I can't do much more for your wrist," I tell James. "Just try not to move it."

I wet another corner of the cloth and start wiping the blood off his face. I pluck a few stray bits of glass from his hair and hand him what's left of the water.

"Drink up," I tell him. "The ambulance will be here soon."

James takes the water with his good hand and starts drinking it slowly.

Frank carries over another unconscious woman and props her up on a pole.

"She hit her head on something," Frank says, shaking his head. "I don't know what, though."

We both hear another crash a few blocks away and look at each other grimly.

"You go help the people over there," I say to Frank. "I'll deal with the dwarves."

"Do you know where they are?" Frank asks doubtfully.

"Have you ever been on a plane, Frank?" I ask.

Frank shakes his head, not seeing the relevance.

"Well, from high up, everything looks different. All of the cars look like toys," I explain.

Frank and I both look upwards at the only tall building next to us.

"They're up there," Frank mutters. "But how do we catch them?"

"You know another thing about small kids?" I ask Frank. "They don't like sharing their toys."

I reach the top of the building ten minutes later. Alone.

I grip my sword tightly as I push open the door at the top of the stairwell.

Passalos and Akmon are hanging upside down on the roof of the building. The view from the top of the building is amazing, but somewhat spoiled for me by the grotesque monkey-like faces staring at me. I can see the Argo 2 from here.

The two dwarves had been playing cards before I arrived but they now throw them up in the air.

"See?!" Akmon says smugly. "I told you she'd come."

Passalos then spots the sword gripped in my hand. "Zethes sword! You took my sword!"

I raise the sword defensively. "You want it? Come and get it."

"Give it back!" Passalos shrieks.

Any second now, I say to myself. Come on Frank.

Right on time, I hear distant screaming. Passalos and Akmon exchange a look and scamper over to the edge of the building.

I don't dare go that close to them, but I know what they are seeing. A mass exodus of people running from a- well, I'm not quite sure. I told Frank to be creative.

"You see that?" I taunt the dwarves. "That's my friend."

And then two dwarves go flying down the building towards the shouting.

So far, so good.

I sigh as I head towards the stairwell. I have to go all the way back down now. I hear a loud crash and hurry down the stairs with more haste then when I came up.

I glance at a sign as I take the steps two at a time. It reads 'Floor Two'. Only two more flights of stairs. I nearly crash into the wall at the bottom of the stairs but quickly recover and rush out of the building.

I spot Frank immediately and rush over to him. "Did it work? Are you okay?"

Frank is covering his left eye with his hand. "It worked. But one of them got me in the eye."

I pull away his hand. "Let me see."

"Your pupil is slightly red," I observe. "You closed it, right?"

Frank nods. "Right before he landed on my eye."

"It'll be black by dinner," I say. "Don't bother wasting our ambrosia, you'll be fine."

"How long do you think it'll last?" Frank winces.

I shrug. "I don't know. I've never gotten a black eye, only given them out."

Frank looks at me strangely for a moment more before shaking himself out of it. "The dwarves are over here."

Frank strides over to one of the upturned cars and picks up two netted bags. Akmon and Passalos struggle indignantly inside them and Frank quickly drops them back on the ground.

"Their stuff?" I ask.

"In these two sacks," Frank points.

I crouch beside them and start sifting through the bags. I find Katoptris, Jason's coin, one of Zoé's silver hunting knives and a few other things from the Argo 2.

"Got our stuff," I say to Frank. "Anything here that interests you?"

Frank kneels beside me and examines the stolen items. He picks up a silver bow and quiver with a small bit of interest but then they shrink into a small silver bracelet.

"Stolen from Artemis' camp," Akmon offers. "Please don't kill us."

Frank drops the bracelet but I pick it back up and slip it into my pocket. "For Zoé."

"What about this?" I ask Akmon, unstrapping my sword from my belt. "Where'd you get it?"

"Zethes," Passalos says. "Son of a winter wind god. Sailed with Jason on the Argo."

"Interesting," I say to myself. "Frank, what do you want to do with these two?"

"Send them to Tartarus?" Frank suggests.

"No, no, no!" Akmon and Passalos both wail.

"It'll take us forever to get back," Passolos whines.

"And Gaia might not even let us come back!" Akmon cries.

"Frank," I say. "They're practically children."

"Children that will step on your eyes," Frank points out.

"Let's just leave them," I say.

"So they can terrorise the city?" Frank says.

"Okay, let's make a deal," I say, turning to the dwarves. "You two don't bother our quest in any sort of way, _or_ seriously injure anyone in this city, and we'll let you two go with all of your belongings except our stuff and the ring."

"Deal," Akmon says immediately.

"On the River Styx," I say sternly.

Akmon hesitates and looks at Passalos.

"You can still steal," I reassure them. "And prank. Just without seriously hurting people."

"We swear on the River Styx to your terms," Akmon and Passalos finally say.

"That was simple," I say. "Frank, free them."

They're gone the second they are out of the nets. They grab a bag each and scamper away to the nearest corner that's out of our sight.

"Want to go back up the building?" I ask Frank. "So you don't have to fly me so far."

I feel kinda bad for making Frank take my all the way here. If climbing back up the building means less work for him I can deal with it.

"If you don't mind," Frank says.

We walk back to the building and start climbing the stairs.

"Any progress with Hazel?" I ask Frank.

"A bit," Frank replies. "She still tenses up whenever anyone mentions Percy. And she refuses to talk about what happened in that storm."

"I think I'll ask her to help me brush up on my sword fighting skills," I say thoughtfully. "I wish I'd had a chance to practice on the dwarves."

Frank chuckles lowly. "I think you're tiring her out. You haven't given her a moment alone for the past few days."

"I'm just denying her the chance to feel depressed," I say. "Whatever happened in that storm, she clearly doesn't need to extra time to think about it."

Frank is quiet for the rest of the climb and changes into a giant eagle without a single word.

We land lightly on the deck. No one is here. Frank transforms back into a human and cocks his head. "Do you hear that?"

I do.

"I told you I'm fine, Jason! Where's Frank?!"

"Your girlfriend got her voice back," I remark to Frank.

Frank rushes down the stairs and presumably into the infirmary. When I enter they are embracing tightly while Jason stands awkwardly to the side.

"Hey," I kiss Jason's cheek. "Got our stuff back."

I pass him his coin which he pockets gratefully.

"Zoé, Percy and Annabeth are in their rooms," Jason says. "Hazel got hit pretty badly in the head."

Frank pulls away from Hazel and I see the cut on her forehead, covered in dried blood.

"Me and Jason are going to give the others their stuff," I say, dragging Jason out of the room by the hand.

Jason looks at me, confused.

"They need their privacy," I answer his unspoken question.

Jason nods. "I hope Calypso and Leo are alright."

 **-SAW**


	9. Chapter 9

**Percy Jackson**

Today's the day. The day we close the Doors of Death or die trying.

Sorry, that sounds overly dramatic. I do my best not to act like Zeus, mainly because he's a complete jerk that holds regular votes on my life.

I put on a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and an old pair of runners. I quickly brush my teeth- yes, before a meal, get over it- and head to the girls' section of the ship. I knock on Annabeth's door, knowing that she'll already be up and 'mentally preparing' herself for the upcoming fight. Whatever that means.

Sure enough, Annabeth opens her door almost immediately and sits back down on her bed without greeting me. She is already dressed and unlike me, looks wide awake.

It's been two weeks since we lost Calypso and Leo, and today is the day we get them back. Hazel (with much prompt) confirmed that they are both alive, though she also told us that Leo has been very close to death a few times. Not very reassuring but it took us a long time to get even that from Hazel.

"Tyson sent you this," Annabeth says, handing me a familiar looking watch.

I grin and quickly put it on. I hold my wrist away from my body and slap the button. It immediately expands into a beautifully made shield with pictures not only depicting scenes from the Sea of Monsters but any other times Tyson has seen me fight.

"Man, I missed this thing," I grin at Annabeth. "Why and how'd he send it to you, though?"

"I think he asked Poseidon to send it, and your father probably realised that you'd never find it if he put it in your room. It's a complete pigsty. You really need to clean it."

"If we survive today, I'll consider it," I compromise.

"If we survive today, we've still got two more major battle to fight. This will be a warm up act compared to the Giants and Gaia."

"If we survive today, we've got the rest of the battles in our lives to fight," I correct. "I'll clean out my room if you help me."

"We're demigods," Annabeth agrees. "You've got a deal."

I press down on the back centre of my shield and it transforms back into a watch.

"Wanna head to breakfast?" I ask. "Piper and Hazel should be up. Piper said they were making pancakes."

Annabeth frowns slightly. "Shouldn't we be having something nutritious before a big battle like this?"

I hold up my hands. "If I'm dying today, I want to go out on a full stomach."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Maybe when we get Calypso back, we'll finally get some fresh food."

"Whk cares? Let's go," I whine, dragging her up by the hand.

Annabeth laughs. "Let me get my shield first."

"Annabeth, this is breakfast, not war," I protest.

Annabeth's dagger is-of course- already strapped to her belt, her shoes are already on and her bed is already made. She grabs a plate size shield and allows me to drag her out of the room. It's the same shield she used in the Titan War. The one that Beckendorf made before he...died.

We make our way towards the dining room. As we pass the boys corridor, I take special care to kick Jason and Frank's doors 'by accident', waking them up in the process. Because I'm not a complete idiot, I choose not to kick Zoé's door too.

When we enter the dining room, Piper and Hazel are already placing plates down with pancakes. Hazel disappears quickly and returns with maple syrup and glasses. She quickly exits again and brings back a large bottle of juice. Piper brings out seven sets of cutlery and carefully sets every place at the table.

"Morning," Piper greets us cheerfully.

"Morning," Annabeth replies.

"Thanks for not letting us starve to death," I add.

"Are Frank and Jason awake yet?" Piper asks.

"Jason and Frank are up," I assure her.

We all know by now that it is not a good idea to wake Zoé. She will get up in her own time, but is always ready by 8:00.

I pull out Annabeth's chair for her and she gives a small laugh and sits down. I then plop myself down in my own seat and grab the juice. I pour a glass for Annabeth first before filling my glass as well.

I know, I know. I'm such a gentleman.

I grab the maple syrup and pour an excessive amount onto my pancakes.

Annabeth quickly grabs my wrist. "Percy that's enough maple syrup. You're drowning your pancakes."

"I'm the son of Poseidon," I protest. "I can't drown, and neither can my pancakes."

Jason and Frank come in and sit down at their spots. Then Piper and Hazel. And soon Zoé. The mood intensifies. Aside from forced small talk, we eat in complete silence. At the end of the meal, we clear the table and stand in tense silence.

"Ten minutes," Annabeth says, and we disperse.

Ten minutes to prepare for the fight. Ten minutes to grab your weapons and any other things. Ten minutes until we descend upon the House of Hades and get Calypso and Leo back.

* * *

The entrance to the House of Hades is majestic, awe-inspiring and downright creepy. It's built into the side of a steep hill. There are no doors, just a giant obsidian archway. Human skulls line the edges of the entranceway. The way the entrance is angled, no sunlight streams in. There's a pitch black opening.

"Anyone bring a torch?" Piper asks nervously.

Annabeth starts to sling off her backpack but Hazel stops her. "Wait."

She takes a few steps into the cave-like entrance. "Stay here."

When Hazel is completely submerged in the darkness I take an automatic step forward, just to be pulled back by Annabeth. Hazel reappears holding an old-fashioned goblet.

We crowd around her and examine the green liquid in it. I reach towards it and Hazel brings the goblet closer to her body.

"I wouldn't," Hazel says without looking at me. "It's poison. You won't be able to eat with your hands for a week without danger of poisoning yourself."

This is the most Hazel has spoken since that storm. We still don't know what happened when she rode off with Arion. I've even asked the horse, but something messed with his interpretation of what happened. He doesn't remember a thing.

"If it's poison, then why have we got it?" Frank asks.

"We have to drink it," Annabeth says. "I read about it. It connects us to the world of the dead and allows us to enter the House of Hades."

"Do you know what poison is, Annabeth?" I ask. "Because apparently it's not so good for your health."

"You're right," Annabeth nods. "The question is, how do we drink it without dying?"

Personally, I'm all for not drinking the poison.

"Piper?" I say suddenly, getting all eyes on me. "What was that thing you did with the water in that well? Poured nectar into it?"

"Good idea, Percy," Piper says. "What he's saying is that by adding nectar to the poison, it should dilute it enough not to kill us."

"Hazel?" Annabeth asks. "Will that work?"

Hazel nods. "Don't add too much or its effects won't work."

I'm not sure which effects she is talking about. The entry-into-the-House-of-Hades effect or the putting-us-all-in-graves effect.

Annabeth takes a metal flask of nectar from her backpack and measures the amount in the lid. She carefully drizzles it into the goblet of poison, taking care not to splash it.

"Who wants to go first?" I ask.

Everyone starts protesting loudly and annoyance flashes briefly in Hazel's eyes. She turns away, brings the goblet to her lips and has the first sip.

"Hazel!" I yelp in panic.

Everyone looks at me and I start to calm down when Hazel doesn't drop

dead.

"Did no one else see her drink the poison?" I ask, gesturing to Hazel.

There's a short silence as everyone realises what has just happened. A small smirk forms on Zoé's face and she shakes her head before taking the goblet from Hazel. She quickly drinks a small quantity of the poison and grimaces.

Frank takes it next, and we pass it along until none is left. I turn away to cough when it's my turn and when I look back, the cave is suddenly lit dimly.

I can see that the cave is small, but there is a smaller tunnel leading off in the back wall. That's our destination. We head towards the back of the cave and towards the tunnel. I take a step towards the tunnel but Hazel stops me.

"I'll go first," she says quietly. "The floor is unstable, I can guide you through there without dying."

No one raises any objections and Hazel confidently but slowly leads us through the tunnel. I go directly after her and Frank follows me closely. I take care to pay attention to Hazel's every movement and only step where she does.

We turn a corner and the tunnel abruptly with a giant boulder. The other murmur behind me and I place a hand on Hazel's shoulder. "A cave in?"

Hazel quickly shrugs off my hand. "It's a test."

Hazel places her hand on the boulder and it crumbles to dust. The tunnel shakes and cracks run up the ceiling. I hold my breath but Hazel continues to lead us down the stairs that were behind the boulder. The shaking stops suddenly and the stairway splits into three different routes. Hazel stops and examines each route carefully.

"Hazel?" Frank asks behind me.

Hazel chooses the left route and the stairs become steeping and more winding. At the next intersection, Hazel chooses right without hesitation.

We take so many turns and pass so many intersections that I start to feel dizzy. I'm really glad we have Hazel with us. Finally we reach an archway imbedded with human skulls.

"This is the entrance to the second level of the House of Hades," Hazel says quietly.

Hazel runs her hands over the skulls outlining the doors and I shudder.

Hazel steps into the archway and unsheathes a golden dagger strapped to her side as she walks. The floor is no longer unstable but it's best to keep Hazel at the front so that we don't get lost. This reminds me of Rachel guiding us through the labyrinth.

As we travel the corridors become wider and we no longer have to walk in single file. Annabeth walks with me but Hazel keeps persistently at the front of our group. My nerves are on edge, screaming at me to run, to get out of these tunnels, but I stay directly behind Hazel.

We turn a corner and I hear something whizzing towards us. Before I can do anything, Hazel brings up her dagger in front of her chest and a small dart covered in a green poison is deflected to the ground. Hazel wipes the poison off her dagger on the corner of the wall and continues like nothing happened.

We turn into a giant room with a large chasm cutting it in half. A narrow wooden bridge connects the two sides and Hazel walks across it without hesitation. We all cross without anything bad happening. There are dozens of different routes leading off to my left and right but Hazel makes a beeline for the tunnel at the end of the large room.

"Step exactly where I step," Hazel instructs.

The room suddenly rumbles and shakes. I can hear hundreds of roars from monsters- Cyclopes, earthborn, hellhounds and more.

"Hurry," I urge Hazel, uncapping my sword.

The others draw their weapons behind me and Hazel switches her dagger for her sword as she picks up pace. I'm nearly stepping on her heels in my haste but we make it to the door safely. I turn around only to find Frank behind me and the other struggling to get past the waves of monsters and to us.

"We've got to help them," I say immediately.

"You two go on," Frank suddenly urges us. "I'll help them, you two need to get to the Doors."

Hazel hesitates just as I spot a wave of boulders flying towards us.

"Heads up!" I shout, tackling Hazel down.

When I stand back up, Frank is gone and so are the rest of our friends. We are blocked inside the tunnel, Hazel and I. Hazel stares at the boulders separating us from our friends uncomprehendingly.

"Let's go," I tell Hazel, standing up.

Hazel's hand brushes at her eyes briefly and she stands quickly, turning around and heading down the tunnel without another word.

 **-SAW**


	10. Chapter 10

**Percy Jackson**

Today's the day. The day we close the Doors of Death or die trying.

Sorry, that sounds overly dramatic. I do my best not to act like Zeus, mainly because he's a complete jerk that holds regular votes on my life.

I put on a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and an old pair of runners. I quickly brush my teeth- yes, before a meal, get over it- and head to the girls' section of the ship. I knock on Annabeth's door, knowing that she'll already be up and 'mentally preparing' herself for the upcoming fight. Whatever that means.

Sure enough, Annabeth opens her door almost immediately and sits back down on her bed without greeting me. She is already dressed and unlike me, looks wide awake.

It's been two weeks since we lost Calypso and Leo, and today is the day we get them back. Hazel (with much prompt) confirmed that they are both alive, though she also told us that Leo has been very close to death a few times. Not very reassuring but it took us a long time to get even that from Hazel.

"Tyson sent you this," Annabeth says, handing me a familiar looking watch.

I grin and quickly put it on. I hold my wrist away from my body and slap the button. It immediately expands into a beautifully made shield with pictures not only depicting scenes from the Sea of Monsters but any other times Tyson has seen me fight.

"Man, I missed this thing," I grin at Annabeth. "Why and how'd he send it to you, though?"

"I think he asked Poseidon to send it, and your father probably realised that you'd never find it if he put it in your room. It's a complete pigsty. You really need to clean it."

"If we survive today, I'll consider it," I compromise.

"If we survive today, we've still got two more major battle to fight. This will be a warm up act compared to the Giants and Gaia."

"If we survive today, we've got the rest of the battles in our lives to fight," I correct. "I'll clean out my room if you help me."

"We're demigods," Annabeth agrees. "You've got a deal."

I press down on the back centre of my shield and it transforms back into a watch.

"Wanna head to breakfast?" I ask. "Piper and Hazel should be up. Piper said they were making pancakes."

Annabeth frowns slightly. "Shouldn't we be having something nutritious before a big battle like this?"

I hold up my hands. "If I'm dying today, I want to go out on a full stomach."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Maybe when we get Calypso back, we'll finally get some fresh food."

"Whk cares? Let's go," I whine, dragging her up by the hand.

Annabeth laughs. "Let me get my shield first."

"Annabeth, this is breakfast, not war," I protest.

Annabeth's dagger is-of course- already strapped to her belt, her shoes are already on and her bed is already made. She grabs a plate size shield and allows me to drag her out of the room. It's the same shield she used in the Titan War. The one that Beckendorf made before he...died.

We make our way towards the dining room. As we pass the boys corridor, I take special care to kick Jason and Frank's doors 'by accident', waking them up in the process. Because I'm not a complete idiot, I choose not to kick Zoé's door too.

When we enter the dining room, Piper and Hazel are already placing plates down with pancakes. Hazel disappears quickly and returns with maple syrup and glasses. She quickly exits again and brings back a large bottle of juice. Piper brings out seven sets of cutlery and carefully sets every place at the table.

"Morning," Piper greets us cheerfully.

"Morning," Annabeth replies.

"Thanks for not letting us starve to death," I add.

"Are Frank and Jason awake yet?" Piper asks.

"Jason and Frank are up," I assure her.

We all know by now that it is not a good idea to wake Zoé. She will get up in her own time, but is always ready by 8:00.

I pull out Annabeth's chair for her and she gives a small laugh and sits down. I then plop myself down in my own seat and grab the juice. I pour a glass for Annabeth first before filling my glass as well.

I know, I know. I'm such a gentleman.

I grab the maple syrup and pour an excessive amount onto my pancakes.

Annabeth quickly grabs my wrist. "Percy that's enough maple syrup. You're drowning your pancakes."

"I'm the son of Poseidon," I protest. "I can't drown, and neither can my pancakes."

Jason and Frank come in and sit down at their spots. Then Piper and Hazel. And soon Zoé. The mood intensifies. Aside from forced small talk, we eat in complete silence. At the end of the meal, we clear the table and stand in tense silence.

"Ten minutes," Annabeth says, and we disperse.

Ten minutes to prepare for the fight. Ten minutes to grab your weapons and any other things. Ten minutes until we descend upon the House of Hades and get Calypso and Leo back.

* * *

The entrance to the House of Hades is majestic, awe-inspiring and downright creepy. It's built into the side of a steep hill. There are no doors, just a giant obsidian archway. Human skulls line the edges of the entranceway. The way the entrance is angled, no sunlight streams in. There's a pitch black opening.

"Anyone bring a torch?" Piper asks nervously.

Annabeth starts to sling off her backpack but Hazel stops her. "Wait."

She takes a few steps into the cave-like entrance. "Stay here."

When Hazel is completely submerged in the darkness I take an automatic step forward, just to be pulled back by Annabeth. Hazel reappears holding an old-fashioned goblet.

We crowd around her and examine the green liquid in it. I reach towards it and Hazel brings the goblet closer to her body.

"I wouldn't," Hazel says without looking at me. "It's poison. You won't be able to eat with your hands for a week without danger of poisoning yourself."

This is the most Hazel has spoken since that storm. We still don't know what happened when she rode off with Arion. I've even asked the horse, but something messed with his interpretation of what happened. He doesn't remember a thing.

"If it's poison, then why have we got it?" Frank asks.

"We have to drink it," Annabeth says. "I read about it. It connects us to the world of the dead and allows us to enter the House of Hades."

"Do you know what poison is, Annabeth?" I ask. "Because apparently it's not so good for your health."

"You're right," Annabeth nods. "The question is, how do we drink it without dying?"

Personally, I'm all for not drinking the poison.

"Piper?" I say suddenly, getting all eyes on me. "What was that thing you did with the water in that well? Poured nectar into it?"

"Good idea, Percy," Piper says. "What he's saying is that by adding nectar to the poison, it should dilute it enough not to kill us."

"Hazel?" Annabeth asks. "Will that work?"

Hazel nods. "Don't add too much or its effects won't work."

I'm not sure which effects she is talking about. The entry-into-the-House-of-Hades effect or the putting-us-all-in-graves effect.

Annabeth takes a metal flask of nectar from her backpack and measures the amount in the lid. She carefully drizzles it into the goblet of poison, taking care not to splash it.

"Who wants to go first?" I ask.

Everyone starts protesting loudly and annoyance flashes briefly in Hazel's eyes. She turns away, brings the goblet to her lips and has the first sip.

"Hazel!" I yelp in panic.

Everyone looks at me and I start to calm down when Hazel doesn't drop

dead.

"Did no one else see her drink the poison?" I ask, gesturing to Hazel.

There's a short silence as everyone realises what has just happened. A small smirk forms on Zoé's face and she shakes her head before taking the goblet from Hazel. She quickly drinks a small quantity of the poison and grimaces.

Frank takes it next, and we pass it along until none is left. I turn away to cough when it's my turn and when I look back, the cave is suddenly lit dimly.

I can see that the cave is small, but there is a smaller tunnel leading off in the back wall. That's our destination. We head towards the back of the cave and towards the tunnel. I take a step towards the tunnel but Hazel stops me.

"I'll go first," she says quietly. "The floor is unstable, I can guide you through there without dying."

No one raises any objections and Hazel confidently but slowly leads us through the tunnel. I go directly after her and Frank follows me closely. I take care to pay attention to Hazel's every movement and only step where she does.

We turn a corner and the tunnel abruptly with a giant boulder. The other murmur behind me and I place a hand on Hazel's shoulder. "A cave in?"

Hazel quickly shrugs off my hand. "It's a test."

Hazel places her hand on the boulder and it crumbles to dust. The tunnel shakes and cracks run up the ceiling. I hold my breath but Hazel continues to lead us down the stairs that were behind the boulder. The shaking stops suddenly and the stairway splits into three different routes. Hazel stops and examines each route carefully.

"Hazel?" Frank asks behind me.

Hazel chooses the left route and the stairs become steeping and more winding. At the next intersection, Hazel chooses right without hesitation.

We take so many turns and pass so many intersections that I start to feel dizzy. I'm really glad we have Hazel with us. Finally we reach an archway imbedded with human skulls.

"This is the entrance to the second level of the House of Hades," Hazel says quietly.

Hazel runs her hands over the skulls outlining the doors and I shudder.

Hazel steps into the archway and unsheathes a golden dagger strapped to her side as she walks. The floor is no longer unstable but it's best to keep Hazel at the front so that we don't get lost. This reminds me of Rachel guiding us through the labyrinth.

As we travel the corridors become wider and we no longer have to walk in single file. Annabeth walks with me but Hazel keeps persistently at the front of our group. My nerves are on edge, screaming at me to run, to get out of these tunnels, but I stay directly behind Hazel.

We turn a corner and I hear something whizzing towards us. Before I can do anything, Hazel brings up her dagger in front of her chest and a small dart covered in a green poison is deflected to the ground. Hazel wipes the poison off her dagger on the corner of the wall and continues like nothing happened.

We turn into a giant room with a large chasm cutting it in half. A narrow wooden bridge connects the two sides and Hazel walks across it without hesitation. We all cross without anything bad happening. There are dozens of different routes leading off to my left and right but Hazel makes a beeline for the tunnel at the end of the large room.

"Step exactly where I step," Hazel instructs.

The room suddenly rumbles and shakes. I can hear hundreds of roars from monsters- Cyclopes, earthborn, hellhounds and more.

"Hurry," I urge Hazel, uncapping my sword.

The others draw their weapons behind me and Hazel switches her dagger for her sword as she picks up pace. I'm nearly stepping on her heels in my haste but we make it to the door safely. I turn around only to find Frank behind me and the other struggling to get past the waves of monsters and to us.

"We've got to help them," I say immediately.

"You two go on," Frank suddenly urges us. "I'll help them, you two need to get to the Doors."

Hazel hesitates just as I spot a wave of boulders flying towards us.

"Heads up!" I shout, tackling Hazel down.

When I stand back up, Frank is gone and so are the rest of our friends. We are blocked inside the tunnel, Hazel and I. Hazel stares at the boulders separating us from our friends uncomprehendingly.

"Let's go," I tell Hazel, standing up.

Hazel's hand brushes at her eyes briefly and she stands quickly, turning around and heading down the tunnel without another word.

 **-SAW**


	11. Chapter 11

**Leo Valdez**

I hate being the weak link.

Nico is the son of Hades, god of the underworld. He's probably fourth most powerful demigod in the world (Percy, Jason and Thalia Grace being first, second and third). He can summon skeletons and control shadows and the earth (according to Percy)

Bob the Titan is a freaking Titan. A full immortal. I don't even need to explain this one.

And Calypso is...Calypso. She's probably the most powerful demi-titan in the world. She's a deadly sorceress, an amazing archer and easily the most beautiful girl I know.

And I'm just some son of Hephaestus who is decent with a dagger.

A fire starter, the boy that killed his own mother.

 _And there's my happy thought for the day_ , I scold myself.

There's no time for self-pity in Tartarus. I honestly don't know how Calypso stays so optimistic.

Speaking of Calypso... I look down and brush her hair out of her face. It's surprisingly cold in this boat while on the Lethe so I've draped my hoodie over her.

At my touch she stirs and opens her eyes. I feel guilty for a moment before brushing it off, we are near our destination anyway. We've been traveling for six hours. I've taken a few naps, setting my watch to go off after about thirty minutes so that I can make sure we aren't sinking.

Calypso sits up slowly, scanning our surroundings almost mechanically, observing from the land we are passing to the sleeping son of Hades on the opposite end of the boat. Her eyes then stray to her body, taking note of the hoodie laid across her. A soft smile creeps across her face. "Aren't you cold?"

I shrug in response, I am slightly cold but it doesn't matter. "Not really, you can keep it."

Calypso's smile grows and she pulls the hoodie on. It's a simple red hoodie, faded to nearly pink. It's not one of those really annoying, super thin hoodies but it's not particularly thick either.

Calypso turns to watch the passing land and I turn back to the controls and the river ahead. After a few minutes, I spot a large bunch of rocks in the water. I flick a lever just as we come to them and the boat is suddenly on legs, stomping on top of the rocks.

Calypso laughs in surprise and I hit another lever as we pass the rocks. The boat drops back onto the water without a splash and continues.

We continue without problems for a little while before I spot a monster on the shore. We've been following the left hand side of the river for a while. The monster is only a hellhound but I press a button and a bullet that I had fashioned on the six hour journey flies out from the boat and hits the hellhound in the stomach.

I frown slightly, I had been aiming for the head. This is when I notice that my hands are shaking slightly, not my normal twitching but a constant movement. I decide that I must be worried or scared about something, which is extra weird because I don't know what it is. I try to take deep breaths to calm myself (like every shrink in the world says to do) but I find it hard to do so. This is really strange.

My breaths are coming in pants now and Calypso looks over, confused. "Leo?"

I'm on all fours now, trying desperately to pull in air.

What's wrong with me?!

"Leo?!" Calypso is kneeling beside me now.

And then I collapse to the bottom of the boat. My body is burning, it's on fire. A blinding pain, sharper than I had expected. My legs, my arms, my head, my chest- burning away. My eyes are squeezed shut, a scream is building its way up my throat. That's when I remember.

 _The poison!_

And I also remember that Calypso is right beside me, probably scared out of her mind. This in mind I try my best to hold in my scream (because I can't do that to Calypso) and the result is a strangled scream through gritted teeth.

I can hear my heartbeat drumming in my ears. The fire in my chest doesn't stop. I can hear Calypso and Nico talking.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I think it's the poison."

"Is there something we can-?"

"Akhlys is the goddess of poisons. I doubt she would've used a poison that can be healed by nectar and ambrosia!"

"Alright, calm down."

I let out another strangled scream, instantly regretting it. I know I'm convulsing on the boat floor. My head hits something hard and metal and adds a whole new level to my pain. I try to keep as still as possible but my back lurches. My hand is grabbed in someone else's and someone strokes my hair. Something softer is now under my head.

I don't know how long this goes on for, maybe hours, maybe days, but eventually the burning stops. I open my eyes to find Calypso staring down at me in concern. My head is in her lap so I sit up slowly. I check my body for signs of burns but there are none.

I turn back to Calypso. "I'm fine, see?"

Calypso turns away quickly and wraps her arms around her chest. She goes back to staring at the land. Nico looks away too and I turn back to the controls.

I can tell they don't know what to say. I've already said that I'm alright (a total lie, my heart rate still hasn't gone back to normal) and neither are quite the social type. Calypso spent centuries in isolation and Nico spent years isolating himself.

I grin to myself as a certain Titan comes into view.

"Yo, Bob?!"I yell.

Calypso and Nico immediately spin around and spot Iapetus on the upcoming shore. I start to bring the boat closer to the shore and Calypso takes a flying leap and lands on shore. She runs up to Iapetus and gives him a hug, which confuse me. She'd never seemed that trusting of Iapetus before.

That's when Calypso notices his rather large friend and takes a step back. We're close enough to hear them now. Calypso's hand drifts to her necklace almost subconsciously.

"Who's this?" Calypso asks carefully.

"A friend," Iapetus answers vaguely.

We touch gently to the shore and I gesture for Nico to get out. He does without a word and goes to greet Iapetus. Calypso turns back to me and rushes over to help with the boat. I wave her away and she stops, confused.

I flick a lever on the boat controls and the legs sprout from the bottom of the boat again and bring me into shore. I flick the lever and it drops me not so gently. I get out before pressing the button that makes it shrink and pocketing it.

"You didn't answer my question," Calypso turns back to Iapetus.

"I am Damasen, born to oppose Ares," the giant introduces himself.

"Iapetus, why is he here?" Calypso asks, now gripping her necklace tightly.

"He is an old friend. As he was born to oppose Ares, he became his opposite," Iapetus says.

"Peaceful," Nico finishes.

Calypso stops gripping her necklace and offers her hand to the Damasen. He shakes it firmly. Nico and I do the same.

"I brought a gift," Damasen says, reaching for his belt. An ivory sword, which looks like a toothpick in comparison to Damasen is uncoupled from his belt and offered to Calypso. "A sword, made by myself."

Calypso takes the sword, the provided sheath and thanks the giant. "Leo?" She asks without looking over her shoulder.

I come up to Calypso's left and she hands me the sword. "I already fight with two knives. Use the sword with your dagger."

The sword fits comfortably in my hand but I try to hand it back to Calypso. "I don't know how to fight with a sword. Or left handed."

"You can learn," Calypso's voice is icy cold. "You need the extra protection. Maybe it'll stop you from getting poisoned. Now take it before you offend someone."

That's when it clicks.

"You're mad at me for getting poisoned?" I ask incredulously.

Calypso glances at Iapetus, Damasen and Nico. She grabs my hand and drags me out of hearing. "Speak."

"You're mad at me for getting poisoned?" I ask in a lower tone.

Calypso glances at where Damasen, Iapetus and Nico are waiting. "Yes, I'm mad at you for getting poisoned! You diverted Akhkys' attention from me and got poisoned! Now you've supposably got weeks to live and you will keep having strange fits that make you hold back screams!"

"Oh," I say, I was wrong before. "You're not mad at me, you're mad at yourself."

Calypso grits her teeth but doesn't deny it. "I was right there! I should've been quicker, I should've-"

"Cal," I interrupt. "It's fine." Not the best way to comfort someone, but I've got no social skills.

"It's not, though," Calypso says, glaring. "You're dying."

"I've got a solution," I say. "You stop yelling until we get out of Tartarus and then you can continue. People are waiting on us."

Calypso glares at me but follows me when I walk back to Nico, Iapetus and Damasen.

"We're good to go," I grin at them. "How far are the Doors?"

Iapetus wordlessly points ahead. A bolt of black lightning lights up a series of sinister looking cliffs (the lightning staying black when the surrounding area lights up).

"What's with the lightning?" I ask nervously.

"It signifies when the Doors are being used," Calypso explains. "Every twelve minutes it's been happening. You could see it from the boat."

It's silent for a while.

"Should we be going?" I prompt them awkwardly.

Nico nods and we set off. After a few minutes, Calypso and I drift away from Nico, Iapetus and Damasen and Calypso starts talking about how to use a sword.

"You already know how to use a dagger, so it's much easier. You'll find blocking quite simple but attacking will be harder. Do you want to use your dagger or sword in your left hand?"

I consider for a moment. "Dagger."

"Alright," Calypso says. "Attach your sword to your belt and get out your dagger. You need to get used to the weight of your sword anyway."

I hold my dagger in my left hand nervously, the grip feeling all wrong to me.

"For now just try to block," Calypso instructs.

"What if I get hurt?" I ask. "We're about to go in battle. What if you stab me in the head or something?"

"Don't get hurt," Calypso advises. "And I won't be going for your head. If I was really attacking, I would be going for your throat."

I barely manage to raise my dagger to block a strike at the throat.

"Why have you stopped?" Calypso asks mockingly. "We need to keep moving."

Calypso is only using one knife at the moment. She slices at my shoulder and I dodge.

"No dodging, Valdez," Calypso taunts. "Blocks, deflects and parries only. Unless of course you'd like to attack."

I grit my teeth and raise my forearm to block a punch from Calypso. The blow leaves my arm smarting but I have to concentrate on Calypso's knife as it swings towards my head. I block and Calypso kicks at my chest. I stumble back a few steps but continue walking and blocking her hits.

After a while, I'm more comfortable with my left side and I chance a strike at Calypso's head. Calypso immediately ducks and delivers a punch to my stomach.

"Don't attack the head if your opponent is better than you and you're only using one weapon," Calypso says as I clutch at my stomach. "It leaves you open. This is why you need to learn to duel wield."

"Get out your sword," Calypso orders. "Put away your dagger for now."

I sheathe my dagger and hold my sword unsteadily. It's a well balanced sword and fits easily in my hand but I refused to learn a second weapon at camp.

"Use two hands for now," Calypso says. "Just try and block again."

Calypso goes straight for my throat again and I have trouble blocking, unused to the longer weapon.

"You need to keep your opponent at a distance," Calypso lectures.

I take a step further away from Calypso and manage to deflect her next strike. Deflecting is easier with a sword, it takes less strength. Whereas when you're blocking, you're fighting force with force. I'm used to blocking but it takes more energy than deflecting.

I continue blocking and deflecting for a while until it comes easier to me. Calypso sees this and presses me to attack as well as defend. She's still using one knife. I don't land any blows on her with the sword but I manage to punch her once or twice (this sounds really bad once you consider that I'm fighting a girl).

"Okay," Calypso says. We're about five minutes away from the first cliff now. "Try using both weapons."

I widen my eyes. "Calypso-"

"Just do it!"

I unsheathe my dagger and hold it in my left hand. I tighten my grip on both weapons just as Calypso summons her second knife. She stabs straight at my chest and I panic, bringing both weapons in front of me only to have them clash together.

"Calypso, I can't do this," I try to explain. "My mind can't multitask like that."

"That's not the point of duel wielding," Calypso says impatiently.

I tilt my head. "Say what now?"

"You're not supposed to multitask as much as you think," Calypso explains. "If you swipe at your opponents head, what would they do?"

"Defend?" I say uncertainly.

"Exactly," Calypso says. "That distracts them and you attack with your other weapon. You don't swing two at once, it's one after the other. Just switch your focus quickly. If you do use both of your weapons at the same time, it won't be anything fancy. You're still at a really basic level with your sword but it's still better than if you were just using your dagger. If there are anything but the usual mindless monsters there, they'll see a guy with a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. If they have any brains at all, they'll press on your dagger side."

I take a deep breath and gesture for her to attack again. She stabs at my chest and I neglect my dagger and slam my wrist against her forearm. Calypso winces in pain but swiftly attacks my left side.

This time it goes better. Calypso doesn't land as many blows on me and I get a few hits on her. It ends when we reach the cliffs. Calypso suddenly presses harder and I have to start backtracking.

Calypso lunges forward and knocks my dagger out of my hand. Before I can attempt to do anything with my sword, Calypso slips her leg behind mine and pushes me backwards. I land hard on my back and try to catch my breath. I reach up my hand and Calypso takes it and pulls me up.

I rest my hands on my knees and breath heavily. When I look up, Calypso is smirking.

"I was going easy on you," Calypso laughs before running off to Nico, Iapetus and Damasen.

 **-SAW**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hazel Levesque**

We've been separated from the others.

I know what's happening. It was just supposed to be me who got separated, but I've dragged Percy into this too. I am supposed to face Pasiphaë alone, one sorceress against another.

This could either be good or bad. Percy might be able to help me against Pasiphaë if I can't defeat her in my own, or he might go and tell everyone that I'm a sorceress in training. Or worse, he might want to talk about why I've been ignoring him.

I shouldn't be ignoring him. It's unfair to him and it'll probably hurt me even more later. But distancing myself from him still might make it hurt less.

I don't hesitate at turns or splits in our path anymore. If Pasiphaë wants me to face her, she'll guide my path to cross her own.

Finally we come to a doorway.

"Hazel?" Percy asks, edging forward. He's been silent for most of the journey. "What's this?"

"In the next room is the Doors of Death," I answer dully.

I reach for the door handle but Percy stops me. "Hazel, what happened in that storm? When you rode off with Arion."

I sigh and decide to tell him some of the truth. "I met Hecate. She warned me about a sorceress we would meet at the Doors. That's how I defeated Sciron. I created an illusion and he kicked me towards the wrong side of the cliff. I've been practising a lot to deal with this sorceress."

Percy sighs in relief. "That's it, then? You aren't upset with me?"

I don't answer, instead reaching for the door handle again, this time pushing it open and stepping through.

I spot the witch immediately. She's standing by two giant black doors calmly. The Doors of Death are tied down with heavy chains, but inside them is what seems to be an elevator (is that what they're called?).

"Hazel Levesque," the woman says coldly. "Welcome. I've been looking forward to this."

"Pasiphaë," I nod my head in respect.

Pasiphaë paces back and forth. "You don't look like much."

"Try me," I say just as coldly.

"But you demigods never do," Pasiphaë continues. "My husband, Minos was king of Crete. A son of Zeus. You never would've known it by looking at him."

"Poor guy," Percy says. "To be stuck with you..."

Pasiphaë's eyes flash. "Him, poor? He was arrogant and prideful. So much that he refused to do the proper sacrifices to Poseidon. And the gods punished me for it."

"Pasiphaë took pleasure in becoming an adulteress with a bull," I recall.

Pasiphaë glares daggers at me. "Do not speak to me of that _nursery_ rhyme!"

"You're the Minotaur's mum?" Percy asks incredulously. "That must suck for you."

"You have no idea," Pasiphaë says harshly.

The elevator lets out a pleasant _ding_. The green 'up' button lights up and the chains shake.

"Ah," Pasiphaë says pleasantly. "Someone is on their way up."

"Giants?" Percy mutters to me, but Pasiphaë catches it.

"Thankfully, no," Pasiphaë says. "They're all accounted for. I'd imagine the Doors are being used by someone else. Someone...unauthorised."

"Calypso and Leo," Percy breathes.

"Okay," Percy whispers in my ear. "You put an illusion around me and I'll cut the chains once Calypso and Leo are out."

"Fool," Pasiphaë sneers. "There is more to magic than _just_ illusions."

"She's right, Percy," I say, acknowledging him properly for the first time in a while. "This is between me and her." I turn to Pasiphaë. "Let him leave, if you win, you can just as easily deal with him later."

Pasiphaë scowls but nods.

I turn back to Percy. "Don't join the fight, whatever you do."

Percy tenses and I remember his fatal flaw is loyalty. It is not in his nature to let his friends fight their battles alone if he is able to help. I try to convey a message with my eyes and he seems to get it because he turns and exits the room, closing the door behind him.

I turn back to Pasiphaë and she is ready for a fight, a ball of fire levitates above her open palm.

"You have only bought him minutes, girl," Pasiphaë sneers at me. "No doubt he will try and fail to avenge your death."

I've learnt as a demigod, _never_ underestimate your opponents. This is Pasiphaë's first mistake.

Her second mistake is choosing to fight me underground. Percy can have the sea, Jason can have the sky, but underground is _my_ domain.

"Are we talking or are you fighting?" I snap back. Calypso has taught me to never show weakness in front of enemies and to act tougher than you really are.

Pasiphaë narrows her eyes and throws the fireball at me. I dodge it easily, but it was only a test. Pasiphaë throws another fireball, but halfway to me, it turns into a wall of fire.

I scream in pain as the fire hits me, and my powers respond on their own. The walls of the cave make a crackling sound and dozens of gems shoot out of the walls and streak towards Pasiphaë.

Pasiphaë manages to throw her up her hands to form some sort of shield, but the gems crack her shield and the last ones to reach her shatter her shield and punch into her.

Pasiphaë wrenches a diamond out of her left arm and throws it to the floor. "You will pay for that."

Since I had thrown up my hands to protect my face from the fire, my hands are red and smarting. Somehow, the wall of fire didn't set flame to any of my clothes or my hair.

Before Pasiphaë can do anything, I stamp my foot on the ground and it cracks. The crack in the floor races towards Pasiphaë, widening as it goes. Pasiphaë just manages to avoid the small ravine in the floor so I will the chasm to close up.

Pasiphaë waves her hand and a storm appears around her...one exactly like the one rode off into on Arion's back. This transports me back to that moment. I don't register Pasiphaë pointing at me and a bolt of lightning shooting towards me.

Distracted by the memories of the last storm I saw like this, I don't dodge the lightning either. I manage to turn slightly and it hits me half on my left side and half on my stomach. Blinding pain shoots through me as I am knocked me to the ground, somehow not dying. The lightning had scorched a hole through my top, leaving the skin burning.

I slam my fist on the ground and the ground rumbles enough to trip up an advancing Pasiphaë. This gives me just enough time to scramble to my feet. I glance nervously at the ceiling as a few rocks fall down. Thankfully, it doesn't collapse but I can tell my small earthquake loosened the foundations of the cave.

I bring a hand to the hole in my top and the contact with my skin sends a jolt of pain through me. I blink away black spots and try to focus on Pasiphaë as she stands.

She is slowly getting up, as she starts to straighten her back, she suddenly sends a ball of energy at me. On instinct, I unsheathe my dagger and throw it at the approaching ball of energy. They collide and the ball and dagger stop for a minute before it flickers and disappears. My dagger melts into liquid gold and falls to the ground. I grit my teeth; that was a gift from Nico.

Pasiphaë eyes the puddle of gold on the floor with disinterest and indifference, but I can tell I am proving to be more of a challenge than she was expecting.

Pasiphaë waves her hand at me again and vines appear from her palm, winding their way towards me. I unhook my sword from my belt and as if it is some unspoken cue, they vines all attack at once.

I slash a vine headed for my throat out of the air and it falls to the ground. I duck below another and swipe two more out of the air. As I cut down another, one wraps itself around my left wrist and starts to twist it. I cry out as a sharp pain goes through my left wrist and manage to cut the attacking fine in half. I slash the final vine and quickly unwrap the vine from around my wrist. I'm no good with injuries, but I'm pretty sure it's sprained.

I can't let my concentration waver. If I do, Percy and I are both dead.

My wrist is sending jolts of pain through me and my hands are an angry red. My stomach and side are hurting like Pluto from the bolt of lightning and I myself am barely standing.

 _Fine_ , I think to myself. _Sorcery may not be my strength, but sword fighting is._

I raise my hands and a white mist creeps forward, coming from my fingertips. Pasiphaë's eyes widen and she's tries to dispel the mist, but I only concentrate harder.

Soon, the whole room is covered in a white fog. I grip my sword tightly and edge to my left. I start to sneak towards the general direction of Pasiphaë and I soon see her. Her back is turned to me, and after a moment of hesitation, I slash at her throat.

The sword goes right through her and she disappears. I hear a laugh to my right and I spin, only to be knocked back with another ball of fire. I cry out from the pain and I hit the ground.

"Too slow, Hazel Levesque," Pasiphaë taunts.

Pasiphaë appears from the mist a few metres in front of me and I manage to get to my feet. My stomach is burning now. The fireball burned an even larger hole in the bottom of my top. I use my sword to help prop me up and allow the fog to disperse.

My concentration wavers slightly from letting go of the most and I see a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye before I pull my focus back.

"Look at you," Pasiphaë laughs coldly. "Pathetic. This is the girl that Hecate thought a match for me?"

To Pasiphaë's amusement, I struggle to straighten my back, and groan out with pain. My hands are bleeding from me forcing them to hold my sword when they were previously burnt, and my left wrist is sprained. The hilt of my sword is covered in blood, which slowly drips down the blade.

My sword is also a gift from my brother, Nico. I haven't seen him since before Ogygia.

I shake my head to clear it and return my focus to a slowly advancing Pasiphaë. It's over, Pasiphaë knows that she's won.

And yet, maybe she hasn't.

A loud chime resounds around the cave and the button next to the elevator lights up. The Doors shake violently against their chains.

Pasiphaë smirks at me. "There are your little friends now. How are you going to save them?"

I let my concentration finally break and Percy appears beside the button.

"You know the thing about you crazy, revenge-seeking witches?" Percy asks loudly.

Pasiphaë's head turns so quickly I'm surprised she didn't get whiplash. Her eyes widen at the sight of Percy next to the open button.

"You always underestimate us," Percy finishes.

Percy presses the _open_ button just as I stomp my foot on the ground. Thousands of precious gems crack through the cave walls and fly towards a screaming, rage-filled Pasiphaë.

 **-SAW**


	13. Chapter 13

**Leo Valdez**

We send the dog first.

Laelaps has gone to scout out the Doors of Death. It was Calypso's idea and I have no clue as to how a dog is going to communicate what it- sorry, he may or may not find.

I turn my sword blade in my hands while I'm waiting, examining the design. I'm sure Daedalus won't mind if I make some modifications. I'm not sure the sword can withstand fire yet.

I get a tingling feeling on the back of my neck and I turn and raise my blade just in time to block a strike to my neck.

"Really, Calypso?" I ask.

"We've got about ten minutes until we're going in," Calypso shrugs. "You'll need the practice."

I unsheathe my dagger and try to match Calypso's skill. She presses on my right side- the one with my sword- and I'm hard pressed to get a few of my own hits in.

Soon I see my opportunity. One of Calypso's knives is locked with my sword and she swipes at my left side, not paying proper attention and keeping her focus on my sword.

I try to pull the same move she did. I block her attack to my left side and twist my sword so that her knife is facing the ground. I drop my dagger from my left hand and slip my leg behind her's. I push her back with force and she trips and lands crouching, but steadies herself with a light touch to the ground.

Before she can recover, I swing my sword at Calypso's feet. She manages to do a sort of funny hop from her crouch on the floor to avoid the blade, but lands on her back. She looks shocked as I help her up.

"I win," I grin. "Still going easy on me, Cal?"

"I'll pick your training up a notch," Calypso grins when she recovers. "Maybe someday I won't have to go easy on you."

I shove her lightly. "Whatever."

"If you're done flirting, Laelaps is back," Nico says coldly.

I put my arm around Nico's shoulders which he quickly shoves off.

"Nico, buddy," I say. "I learnt a long time ago, when a girl starts attacking you with a knife, that's a clear sign that she's not interested. Is that how you and Zoé met? Cause that might explain a lot."

"Don't touch me," Nico says, standing away from me. "Don't ever touch me."

"Whatever," I shrug.

"Did Laelaps find anything?" Calypso asks Damasen.

"No guards around the cliffs," Damasen reports. "But there is no easy way down aside from the main entrance."

"We're agile, we can make it," Calypso brushes off. "What about you two?"

Iapetus and Damasen exchange a look.

"There is another way," Iapetus says slowly. "But only full immortals can take it, and it will take us more time than we might have."

"Do it," Calypso says immediately. "We're going to do whatever it takes to get you back to the mortal world."

Iapetus looks off distantly. "Laelaps will guide you. Damasen and I must go now if we wish to make it in time."

"Go," Calypso says.

And so they do.

"Right," Calypso turns to Laelaps. "Can you lead us to the easiest part of the cliffs to scale down?"

Laelaps barks several times at Calypso before disappearing after Damasen and Iapetus.

"He told me where to go," Calypso says. "He's following Damasen and Iapetus."

"What do we do if the quest isn't there?" I ask Calypso, not for the first time.

"We fight," Calypso says, keeping her eyes ahead. "We fight until we get out, and then we wait."

This girl's optimism never ceases to amaze me.

Calypso guides us through a rocky terrain and to the edge of a cliff. It's crumbled away in some places and looks possible to climb. From here I can see thousands of monsters, all going towards the same thing; a set of giant black doors. The Doors.

"Leo, can you set up a rope and tie it down?" Calypso asks.

I nod and do so quickly, nailing the rope into the ground a few metres away from the cliff edge. Calypso holds the end of the rope that isn't nailed down.

"What do you think would happen if I jumped straight down?" Calypso asks.

"Well, if you managed to keep you grip, your arms would probably be pulled out of their sockets," Nico reports.

"Leo?" Calypso asks, without sparing a glance for Nico.

"I made the rope on the Argo," I say, grinning at how well Calypso knows me. "It's basically a bungee cord. Just tie it around your waist and don't smash into the wall."

Calypso grins and does as I say. Her eyes are sparkling and her face seems stuck in a permanent grin.

"Gods, I love this stuff," Calypso says before somersaulting off the edge of the cliff.

Calypso gives a whoop of excitement and delight as she falls to the ground. I watch her bounce upwards again and kick away from the cliff. As her bouncing slows, she looks up and gives me a thumbs up. Calypso grabs onto the rope firmly with her left hand and with difficulty, unties the rope with her right hand.

Soon, she's holding herself up with amazing strength before she lets herself drop. Calypso rolls to absorb the impact of her four metre fall and waves for me to pull the rope back up.

Without assistance from the ever-so-helpful son of Hades, I heave the somewhat heavy rope back up and hand it to Nico. He ties it securely around his waist with a series of complicated knots and looks down at Calypso. Nico takes a big breath before stepping off the cliff.

Nico bounces several times before coming to a stop. He unties the knots after a few minutes and drops immediately. He lands crouching and I lift the rope back up.

I tie to rope around my waist as securely as I can before jumping off the cliff. I feel panicked for a second at the rapidly approaching ground, but I also feel the tension building up in the rope before it jerks me back up.

I have to kick away from the wall as I fall again and bounce. Soon the bouncing slows and I unsheathe my dagger. I slice the rope above me in half and land rolling, not quite as neatly as Calypso, to absorb the impact of my fall.

We're a ten metres away from the closest group of monsters. The Doors are about thirty metres away. From here, I can see two titans standing directly by the Doors. One of them has his finger jammed against a giant button on the frame of the Doors.

"Group 4A!" One of them yells. "If you _do not_ have your passes, you _cannot_ enter the Doors!"

"Epithemeus," Calypso whispers in my ear. "The Titan of hindsight. The other one is his brother Prometheus, the Titan of foresight. Apparently, Prometheus promised the Kronos he would win the Second Titan War. He and his brother are probably stuck here as punishment."

I nod, I've heard that story around camp.

"They're not good fighters," Calypso continues. "If the Death Mist doesn't work, they won't be impossible to defeat."

"Do we wait for Bob and Damasen, or do we just go?" I ask her lowly.

We don't actually need to whisper, but it's a habit. When you are surrounded by thousands of monsters that aren't looking at you, you don't scream at them to turn around.

Calypso debates for a second. "Go without them. If nothing bad happens when we reach the Doors, we can just wait for them."

"And if something does go wrong?" Nico cuts in.

"We're screwed," I say cheerfully. "Race you!"

Calypso and I dart across the higher rocks that follow the edge of the cliff. Nico follows us at a distance.

I jump to another rock and speed up in order to make the next jump. Calypso stays side by side with me, a large grin stretching across her face.

I overtake Calypso in the next jump and she lets out a laugh as she passes me in the next jump. Mid-jump, Calypso is slammed to the ground and I quickly follow. I hear a thud behind me and I know Nico has crashed too. And then-

 _STINKING GODLY SPAWN._

Calypso stares at me in horror. "Leo, I can see you. I can see you."

I realise that Calypso looks solid and un-zombified too. I scramble to my feet and Calypso does the same. Nico joins us.

 _TITANS_ , the voice says disdainfully. _USELESS AND WEAK. I HAVE NO USE FOR YOU._

Prometheus and Epithemeus vaporise from their spots next to the Doors.

"Tartarus," Calypso says quietly before swearing softly in Ancient Greek. "It's Tartarus."

In front of the Doors, the air darkens and solidifies. Legs appear first, then the rest of his body follows. The being that appears is what I would define as giant. At least five times my height, and his leg is thicker than my entire body.

Tartarus has black iron armour on. It's hard to see any of his ugly purple skin beneath it. His entire being radiates fear and terror. I can barely bring myself to look into his black pits of eyes. Even so, his body flickers with shadows, as though his form may disappear at any moment.

 _SMART GIRL_ , Tartarus bellows. _THIS IS MERELY A MANIFESTATION OF MY POWER. BUT IT IS ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH THREE DEMIGODS._

Nico draws his sword, looking none the worse from his earlier tumble.

"We'll see, primordial," Nico says darkly.

 _YOU HAVE PROVED SURPRISINGLY RESILIENT_ , Tartarus booms. _I DID NOT EXPECT YOU TO GET THIS FAR, BUT I CAN NO LONGER STAND BY AND WATCH MY CHILDREN FAIL._

"You don't need to go to any trouble," I say boldly, surprised that my voice isn't shaking.

Tartarus throws back his head and gives a thundering laugh. I cringe as the sound reaches my ears and resist the urge to cover my ears.

 _BE HONOURED. EVEN THE OLYMPIANS WERE NEVER WORTHY OF MY PERSONAL ATTENTION._

"Do you feel honoured?" I ask Nico and Calypso. "No? No? Nah, me neither."

A giant spear appears in Tartarus' hands. _JEST ALL YOU WANT. YOU DO NOTHING TO DELAY YOUR DEATHS. DEMIGODS ARE NO MATCH FOR ME._

"That's the thing," Calypso says loudly, drawing Tartarus' attention.

"I'm no demigod," Calypso unsheathes her knives. "And you just threatened my friends."

"Go!" Calypso shouts.

We take off, splitting into three paths. I go left, Nico goes right, and Calypso charges Tartarus straight on.

"Get to the Doors!" Calypso yells. "We can do this!"

I reach the primordial first, flipping over his first strike. Things go immediately wrong as he quickly crashes the flat of his blade into my back. I go flying forward and twist myself just in time to avoid smashing my head against the side of the Doors.

"Leo!" I hear Calypso yell.

Nico crashes into me as I attempt to get up, and knocks the wind out of me. When I manage to look up, Calypso is facing off Tartarus. She looks up at him, looking tiny in comparison, and glares.

Tartarus brings down his sword in a downward strike and Calypso darts to the side. Quick as a flash, she stabs him in the foot. The stab probably feels like a needle-prick to Tartarus, but Calypso has drawn blood from a primordial.

This is probably a first in Greek mythology.

Calypso is kicked backwards quickly; away from us and crashes into a boulder. Tartarus steps towards her limp form and I shout in despair. I try to run forward, but Nico grabs the back of my shirt and pulls me back.

"What are you doing?!" I shout at Nico.

Nico's tone is calm. "Wait."

Seconds after he says that, two forms shimmer into existence in front of Calypso.

"Hello father," Damasen says mildly. "Nice to see you."

Bob or Iapetus helps Calypso to her feet. She stumbles once before letting go of Iapetus' arm. Calypso stays shakily upright and gives me a quick, forced smile.

I sigh in relief and shove off Nico's hand.

 _WHAT IS THIS? WHY HAVE YOU COME, MY DISGRACED SON?_ Tartarus asks.

"Father, you wished for a stronger opponent?" Damasen asks. "I am no demigod. I am one of your stronger children. Why don't you try me?"

Damasen charges and I snap to my senses. I lunge to my right and cut the chains of the Doors of Death in half. The Doors shudder and open with a pleasant chime. I cut the other chains in half and dart backwards to hold open the Doors with my foot.

Calypso and Iapetus are running towards us quickly, and I yell at them to hurry. Meanwhile, remember the millions of monsters waiting in line for the Doors? They attack.

I wield my sword and dagger flawlessly (considering I only know the basics with a sword, it's hard to mess up), and destroy monster after monster. Cyclopes twice my size? No problem. Dracanae and empousa with various weapons? Easy pickings.

Seeing Calypso knocked back like that, has fuelled me with a strange energy.

I throw my dagger at a cyclops directly in Calypso and Iapetus' path and Calypso catches the dagger as it drops from the dissolving monster.

Calypso reaches us, almost breathless and vaults over the wall of monster in her way, from a boulder. Calypso hands me my dagger before resting her hands on her knees and catching her breath, taking no longer than ten seconds before she joins the fight.

"Leo, Nico," Calypso shouts over the roars of the monsters. "Get in the elevator, I'll hold the button."

"As if!" I shout and I see Nico nod in agreement from the corner of my eye. "We're not leaving you here!"

"I've got the best chance," Calypso pleads. "I'm the best fighter, and the strongest of us."

Iapetus reaches us for the last of her sentence and shakes his head. "You will not last longer than five minutes."

Calypso doesn't even have the time to look offended as she cuts another ogre in half.

Iapetus sweeps out his spear and slices ten monsters in half without a second look, giving us time to breath.

"I will hold the button," Iapetus says confidently.

"But who will defend you?" Calypso asks desperately. "What about Damasen?"

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, a dog leaps out from the shadows and bites a cyclops in half.

Iapetus smiles. "Laelaps will defend me. And Damasen will leave once you have. Go!"

I stay rooted to my spot, as does Calypso. Iapetus makes eye contact with Nico and a small shudder goes through him. He nods once before turning to us.

"We have to," Nico says hollowly. "Let's go before it's too late."

Nico grabs Calypso by the arm and tries to pull her, but she shakes him off. Calypso takes a flying leap and hugs Iapetus tightly.

"I will not forget you," Calypso says, her voice thick with emotion.

Iapetus smiles before gently pulling her off. "Tell our favourite star I said hello."

Calypso nods before running backwards. She grabs my hand and I grin at Iapetus shakily before we take a step back. I hug Calypso tightly as the Doors close on us.

"Oh, gods," Calypso chokes out. "We just left them there."

"It's not your fault," I say quietly. "It's not your fault."

And then I do the only thing I can think of.

I kiss her.

 **-SAW**


	14. Chapter 14

**Percy Jackson**

I don't know what I was expecting when I pressed the button.

Whatever it was, it isn't this.

I manage to get a brief glance of Calypso kneeling over Leo's body, before I am tackled to the ground and a sword is pressed against my throat. Someone slams my head to the ground with my hair and I wince sharply.

"Nico?" I ask incredulously.

"Let him go, Nico," Calypso says, somewhere in front of me.

Nico scowls but does as she says. When I sit up, I immediately panic and yelp, because Calypso sends an arrow flying above my head.

When I turn around, Pasiphaë (I totally didn't forget about her trying to kill Hazel and I or anything..) is glaring at us and holding an arrow an inch from her throat. Before she can say anything, a pit appears beneath her feet and she falls into it, screaming.

Behind where Pasiphaë previously was, Hazel stands with her hand pointing at where Pasiphaë just fell. Hazel quickly runs over to Nico and wraps him in a hug, the first genuine smile I've seen from her in a while on her face.

"I thought you were dead," Hazel whispers in his ear, while Nico awkwardly pats her back.

Hazel lets go of Nico and hugs Calypso. Her attention quickly moves to Leo's body. "What happened to him?"

"Nothing," Calypso says. "He'll be alright in a few minutes."

The boy is unconscious on the floor and Calypso looks like she might've been crying, _which_ , may I add, she _never_ does. But he'll be alright in a few minutes, don't worry!

I stand up and help Calypso bring Leo out of the elevator. Calypso runs her hand through Leo's hair before standing up. She draws one of her knives and offers it handle first to Hazel.

Calypso gestures to the chains holding open the Doors. "Would you like to do the honours?"

Hazel cuts both chains and the Doors slam shut so suddenly that the cave rumbles. They let out a kind-of wail before disappearing, leaving a flat wall.

Calypso looks up at the ceiling. "The ceiling's about to cave in. We need to get out of here."

Sure enough, cracks are steadily creeping across the ceiling and the ground is still shaking from when the Doors of Death had slammed shut.

"Hazel!" I hear from behind me.

Hazel looks shocked as Frank engulfs her in a big hug. I grin and grab Annabeth by the hand when she reaches me. Piper and Jason join us. Zoé and Calypso hug each other briefly but quickly turn to attention.

Piper hugs Calypso tightly. "You're okay! What's wrong with Leo?"

At that moment, Leo groans and opens his eyes. "What'd I miss?"

The second Leo sits up, Piper engulfs him in a tight hug.

Leo struggles to breath. "Yeah, good to see you too, Beauty Queen." He sends Calypso a look like, _Help me!_

Calypso smiles and pulls Piper off him. "Let him breath, Piper."

"How are you here?" Annabeth asks Nico, who had retreated to a dark corner.

"Story time later," Calypso intervenes. "The ceiling's about to cave, we need to get out."

Even as she says this, a large chunk of the ceiling falls in on the other side of the room.

"Nico," I say. "Can you do that shadow-travel thing you do?"

Nico shoots me a glare but nods reluctantly.

"I can help you," Calypso says, helping Leo up and handing him a flask.

Leo takes a quick swig of whatever is in the flask (nectar, I presume) and joins hands with Calypso. I grab Leo's wrist and Annabeth joins with Jason and Piper. When we're all holding hands, Calypso and Nico teleport us out of the cave, just as the ceiling starts caving in.

When I open my eyes, we're standing on a grassy field near the ocean. Calypso stumbles slightly before collapsing to the ground. Nico quickly follows her lead. Leo gives a somewhat weak laugh and allows himself to fall down next to Calypso. We all join them on the ground. A few hundred yards away, the Argo 2 is floating in the air.

Just as the others start to exchange stories, I spot something move on the ship.

"Hold up, something's on the Argo," I say, holding up a hand.

Calypso squints to see the Argo 2 and a smile appears on her face. I see movement again and a purple figure comes into view.

"I sent for backup," Calypso grins. "Looks like it just arrived. Leo, can you get the ship for us?"

Leo lazily gets a Wii remote out from his tool belt and manipulates it so that the Argo 2 gradually drifts towards us. As it comes closer, the further becomes clearer, and I can't help but grin as she comes fully into view.

"Reyna!" I shout. "Nice of you to join us!"

Reyna gives me a grim look as she exits the ship. "Is it true? What you said?"

I'm immediately confused. "Is what true?"

"It's true," Calypso says shortly. "The statue's on the ship. Surely you saw it?"

"I didn't explore," Reyna says icily.

I can guess why she didn't explore the ship. The control panel alone looks like a death trap to me. Reyna is untrusting of us Greeks, and probably suspects us of trying to capture her, torture her, etc. Yet she came all this way just to see the Athena Parthenos.

Calypso takes a swig of the flask she gave Leo and stands up. "I'm guessing you don't want a tour of the ship. Give Leo and I five minutes to get the statue out."

Calypso pauses after heaving Leo up, and throws her backpack into my chest. "Eat while you're waiting."

I unpack the backpack and put the food into a pile. Nico adds from a black backpack on his back and we pick and choose what we want to eat. Reyna gingerly sits crosslegged next to Nico and picks up a crushed chocolate bar.

"Real nutritious lunch you have here," Reyna comments dryly, dropping the chocolate bar back into the pile and instead picking up a wrapped sandwich.

"You got anything better, help yourself," Annabeth says. She never quite liked Reyna.

"Heads up!" I hear Calypso shout.

I look up as the Athena Parthenos is lowered a mere metre from where I am sitting and scramble back to avoid being crushed. Calypso jumps down from her rather disrespectful position on Athena's head, and lands rolling.

Leo slides down the metallic-looking rope like a pole in a playground.

"Calypso, why have you got rocks in your bag?" I ask as she sits down with us.

Calypso points lazily at Leo. "Blame him."

Leo holds up his hands in surrender. "Okay, so we've got this slightly-over-forty foot statue that me and Calypso fell into Tartarus for. What are we gonna do with it?"

"My Romans still won't fight with _your_ Greeks," Reyna says, emphasising on the word 'your'. "You can forget about the statue and defeating Terra until we can figure out how to get them to work together."

"That's why I sent you that note. It's Nemesis," Calypso explains. "She's keeping the camps against each other."

"So why don't we find her and ask her nicely to go to Hades?" I suggest.

Calypso smothers a smile. "It's not her fault. She has no grudge against the gods, and is actually an alright person. It's unwilling. The Romans stole the Athena Parthenos from the Greeks and her domain calls for vengeance."

"So what do we do, steal some important statue from Rome?" Leo asks, but quickly shuts his mouth when Reyna glares harshly at him.

"No," Calypso says ever-so-helpfully.

"What about the quests we went on to make peace between the camps?" Jason asks. "Were they all for nothing?"

"Not at all," Calypso says. "Right now, the Romans and Greeks would trust each other if it wasn't for Nemesis. Once she stops clouding their vision, they will work together flawlessly."

"How do we get her to stop clouding their vision?" Frank asks, one arm wrapped around Hazel.

"A quest," Calypso says, grabbing a packet of chips.

Calypso eats a chip before continuing, and immediately gags. "What is this?!"

"Salt and vinegar chips," Piper supplies, suppressing a smile. "They might be a bit sharp."

Calypso pulls a face before dropping the packet of chips and picking up a ziplock bag of chicken nuggets. "Reyna has to deliver the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood. Believe it or not, Nemesis isn't all about revenge. She will take it as an act of repentance and remove the cloud."

Reyna looks slightly nervous but hides it quickly. "How am I supposed to get the statue to Camp HalfBlood before Terra attacks?"

"I?" Nico asks quietly. "If you really think you're travelling halfway across the world alone, you must really think lowly of us Greeks."

Reyna scowls. "Unless you're offering, it's really not your concern."

"I am offering, actually," Nico states. "I have the perfect method of transportation to offer."

"I am going too," Zoé says, earning a rare smile from Nico. "Three is the ideal number for a quest, is it not?"

"Alright," Calypso says. "That's settled. Nico are you sure you're strong enough to shadow travel all that way?"

Nico scowls, probably because Calypso just questioned his strength. "I'll be fine."

Leo gets up and stretches dramatically. "Well that's great and all-" He suddenly cuts himself off with a violent round of coughing.

"Styx!" Calypso spits out, rushing to her feet.

Calypso darts forward just in time to stop Leo from hitting his head on the ground as he collapses. Leo continues to cough violently, turning onto his side as he coughs up- is that blood?

"Leo?!" Piper drops to her knees next to Leo. "What's wrong?! What's happening?!"

Leo gives a shudder and his coughing stops. I start to relax when he lets out a scream of pure agony. He writhes and convulses on the flower-covered grass and stifles another scream.

Everyone starts to crowd around Leo now- even Reyna. Piper reaches for Leo but Calypso moves to shield him with her body.

"Everyone, back off!" Calypso shouts.

We move a few metres back obediently but lean as close as we can without overstepping the imaginary line.

"Percy, pass me that flask," Calypso nods at the flask laying on the grass where she had previously been sitting.

I grab the flask and immediately drop it again, spitting out a few swear words that make Hazel blush slightly. "What the Hades is in that?!"

"Sorry, sorry," Calypso says, without looking up from Leo. "I forgot it would be hot for you. Zoé?"

Leo is biting his lip so hard that a trail of blood is slowly travelling down his chin. I can tell he's bravely stopping himself from screaming, but barely so. The only reason I can think of, as to why he isn't letting himself scream, is us. He doesn't want us to panic.

Zoé passes Calypso the flask and I barely register that it doesn't burn her. Calypso drips a suspiciously red liquid into Leo's mouth, and he gags and chokes on every drop.

"Calypso!" Piper says loudly. "You're killing him!"

"Jason, restrain Piper," Calypso says, her eyes not straying from Leo for a second.

"Annabeth, get me some nectar," Calypso orders.

Annabeth digs out a flask from her backpack and gently throws it to Calypso. Calypso snatches it out of the air without looking and unscrews the lid. She pours a small amount into Leo's mouth before dripping in more red liquid.

Leo screams again through gritted teeth and Piper lurches instinctively towards him, only to be gently stopped by Jason's restraining arms.

Calypso recaps both flasks and roll them a metre away. She picks up Leo's head and rests it in her lap with a gentleness I hadn't known she had possessed. Calypso angles her body so that her back is to us, and runs a hand through Leo's hair.

Hazel turns and hugs Frank tightly as Leo lets out another muffled scream.

"Percy, get me some water," Calypso requests in an exhausted voice.

I barely have to think about it. I flex my hand and a bottle of water coming flying into it, pulled by the water inside it. I cautiously take a few steps forward and drop it on the ground next to Calypso.

I don't know how long it takes for Leo to recover. Hazel is being comforted by Frank, and Piper by Jason. Zoé has turned away and after a while, Nico starts to talk with her quietly. Reyna is watching on with a stoic expression. Annabeth has a similar expression of horror and shock to my own and grips my hand tightly. Eventually, Leo's shaking eases and he stops biting his lip so hard.

Calypso wipes away the blood on his lip and chin, and wipes it off on the grass. She grabs the water bottle and unscrews it.

Leo stops shuddering completely, and Calypso leans over him, a waterfall of light brown hair shielding his face from view. Calypso brings up the drink bottle and presumably helps Leo drink it.

When Calypso leans back, Leo's eyes are open and he is sitting up. Calypso helps him up, and neither of them look at us, instead focusing on each other's eyes.

"What in Hades was that?" Piper asks, her voice slightly cracking.

 **-SAW**


	15. Chapter 15

**Calypso**

"Sooooo," Leo drags out.

"What happened to you in Tartarus?" Annabeth asks, surprisingly softly. "What was that?"

Leo scratches his head. "Ran into a couple monsters, met di Angelo here, chatted a bit with Tartarus himself, you know, the usual."

"Valdez, I swear to all the gods-" Frank starts.

"Just tell them, Valdez," Nico says, annoyed. "How long did you expect to keep it a secret for, anyway?"

"Leo?" Leo avoids looking at Piper as she speaks. "What's he talking about?"

Leo waves a hand airily. "Just old times. Is anyone else hungry? If I could just go up to the Argo, I'll whip us up some tacos."

"Leo," Jason deadpans. "What happened?"

Leo sends me a wild look and my eyes widen in shock. I grab his arm and teleport us onto the Argo, into my room.

"Thanks Calypso," Leo sighs in relief. He winces sharply before continuing, "I don't know what I was going to say."

"Thank me later," I say, shoving Leo onto the bed. "That's not why I got you out of there. Look down."

Leo looks at me in confusion before glancing down quickly. He immediately double takes and stares at the blood staining his white t-shirt.

"Leo," I say slowly. "Take off your top. And I swear, if you try to imply something, I will castrate you."

Leo gulps before slowly removing his t-shirt. He winks at me and I curse at him in Ancient Greek. His entire chest is being covered by blood. I can't tell where it's coming from though.

I move swiftly into the bathroom and grab a first aid kit from under the sink. I put it down on the bed next to Leo, and sift through it. It's just your basic first aid kit, plus nectar, ambrosia and a stray knife which I immediately strap to my belt.

I pluck a medical wipe from the kit and immediately flick it back down. I have no idea why they make wipes the size of your hand, they are despicably useless and do nothing. I sigh and move back into the bathroom while Leo watches on in silence.

I grab a cloth, wet it and head back out. I sit next to Leo on the bed as blood trickles down his chest slowly but steadily. I do my best to wipe away the blood to find out where it's coming from. It doesn't take me long to find the source.

"αντίστροφο," I breathe.

Leo looks down in confusion at my words and gasps. "Why in Hades are there words on my chest?!"

I wipe away blood as it starts to flow out of his cuts again and the word is visible.

"Not words," I correct hollowly. "Word. αντίστροφο. It means reverse."

Leo stills looks baffled. "And that explains why there is a word carved into my skin how?"

"It's the poison," I realise aloud. "Akhlys gave you a special poison. An Ancient Greek one. I.. I've heard of it before. Reverse."

I look at Leo's face as my heart fills with dread. "The poison... it turns your greatest strength against you."

Wordlessly, Leo turns his hand upwards and watches as flames dance across his palm. He closes his hand and when he opens it again, the flames are gone. "When I have one of those... fits... I feel like I'm burning, like I'm on fire."

I take Leo's hand in mine and kiss him softly. "We'll work this out. Together."

Yes, Leo and I are dating. Get over it. We talked a lot in the twelve minute journey in the elevator, while Nico stayed at the opposite end of the elevator claiming that we were being sickening. Leo asked me to be his girlfriend, I said yes. There was no reason for me to say no. I'm a pretty straightforward, down-to-earth Kina person. I'm not going to beat around the bush if we both like each other.

Then black smoke had filled the elevator and we had all collapsed. Leo was just the last to recover.

I bandage Leo's chest, my fingers mimicking what Leo had once done when he had to change my bandages.

I deftly sew Leo a new t-shirt for the next half an hour, adding on an extra two words to lighten the mood. Leo fiddles with a small machine while he waits for me.

Leo grins halfheartedly at the new t-shirt, his eyes not as happy as they usually are. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

I laugh, also halfheartedly. "Just reminding you where you stand."

Leo's eyes lose the sorrowful look as he grins at me. He puts on the t-shirt and proudly puffs out his chest, the words _REPAIR BOY_ popping in black against his orange Camp Half-Blood style t-shirt.

His gives me a mock bow. "Of course, your highness."

I laugh and punch him in the arm. "I don't care if we're dating, start treating me like some princess and I _will_ break your nose."

"Shouldn't the others be back by now?" Leo questions in a change of subject.

"They probably are," I grin mischievously. "They won't be able to get through my door. I've set up enchantments so that they can't get in without my permission."

Leo raises an eyebrow. "What if the ship is taken over at night and we're all pounding at your door for help?"

"I get a small sort of buzz at the back of my mind whenever someone's knocking. Right now, I feel like my head is vibrating," I shrug.

It's true, I'm starting to get a small headache now and I strongly suspect it's Percy just trying to annoy me at this point.

I sigh and move my hair so it isn't coming down my neck. "Shall we go make those tacos you promised them? It's about dinner time now. We should probably have this discussion over food."

"The one about me dying?" Leo asks, earning a slap upside the head. "Yeah, I agree."

I grab Leo's hand and teleport us into the kitchen. I drop to one knee when we materialise and Leo helps me up worriedly.

"Don't worry," I say. "It was just a small jump. I'll just have some of the Phlegethon water we brought..."

I trail off as I realise I left it on the ground. I give a depressed groan. "I guess I'll go ask Percy if they've got my stuff. Get started on dinner, please."

I peck Leo on the cheek and he grins before turning around. I sigh in annoyance and walk purposefully to Percy's room. The buzzing at the back of my mind has stopped so I assume he's moved to his room.

I see Annabeth and Percy talking on Percy's bed, not paying attention to the door. I knock on the open door. "Hey, Annabeth, Percy. Did either of you get my backpack and flask?"

Percy is on his feet in an instant. "What the heck was that?"

"Me knocking on your door," I say in a tone that implies it's obvious.

"He means before, when Leo collapsed," Annabeth intercedes.

I sigh. "It's almost dinner time. Leo's making tacos in the kitchen, he's perfectly fine. We can have this discussion over dinner. Have you got my backpack and flask?"

Percy looks far from happy, but Annabeth seems satisfied with my explanation. "We put it by your door. Your flask should be in there."

"Thank you," I say before heading towards my room.

I pick up my backpack as I pass my room, taking the long way to the kitchen. I shuffle through it as I walk, and take out my flask. I zip up the bag and walk more quickly. I dump my bag on a stool next to the kitchen counter and take a quick swig from my flask.

"I'm back," I say to Leo's back.

Leo turns and grins at me. "Hey _mamacita_."

I slap his head lightly. "We've been dating for about an hour. Do you really think it's appropriate to call me that?"

Leo grins. "There's a reason why I've never had a girlfriend before."

"Whatever, _babe_ ," I say sarcastically.

"See," Leo grins. "You're getting it."

I busy myself with collecting the dishes and cutlery that Leo has used and hand-washing them. Soon Leo's done and I arrange the dishes to dry.

I pick up four plates, balancing two on my arms and grin at Leo. "Ready to face them?"

Leo grimaces. "No. If things get heated, can I tell them we're dating to distract them?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Define _heated_."

"Me telling them that I'm dying?" Leo says questioningly.

"Whatever," I shrug. "Nico already knows, he's gonna blow that secret too soon. And I told you, you're not dying. We'll find a cure."

Leo nods and picks up two plates silently.

"Hey," I say softly. "It'll be fine."

I kiss Leo and on the lips and he responds quickly. I have to pull away though, to keep balance of my plates. I lead us out the door and am not surprised to find nearly everyone already there.

I smile as Piper takes two of the plates without a word, and Hazel moves towards the kitchen door. I follow Hazel back into the kitchen and she takes two plates. I give Hazel a grateful smile and nod as she turns, but I frown when she barely lifts the corners of her mouth.

Leo comes into the kitchen to grab the last plate and I grab Leo's arm as the door swings shut behind Hazel. "Have you noticed something wrong with Hazel?"

Leo frowns slightly. "No. Now that I think about it, she hasn't said a word to either of us, has she?"

I shake my head. "I don't think we're the only ones with stories to tell." I brush it off. "I can take the last plate if you want."

Leo gives me an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? I'm your boyfriend now, I'm supposed to do stuff for you. In fact..."

Leo scoops the two plates out of my hands and balances one between them. He pecks me on the lips before walking unsteadily towards the door. I laugh and rush to open the door for him.

"You're going to drop one," I laugh as Leo walks to the table.

Leo sticks out his tongue at me and places down one plate. I laugh at his confused look for our spots.

"I'll go grab a chair. There's another one in the kitchen. Clear a space, will you?" I say before swinging myself around the doorframe.

I grab a chair from Frank's room. Leo runs into me at a corner and I stop. "Going somewhere?"

Leo grabs the chair from me and I laugh and frown at the same time. "You're actually being stupid now. I told you, treat me like a princess and I will break your nose."

When I reach the dining room, two spots have been cleared and placemats and cutlery has been given out. My backpack is in between the two new spots. A chair has been placed in the right spot, next to Jason and there's another on the left, next to Hazel.

Leo places down my chair and holds it out for me with an extremely unnecessary bow. "My lady."

I laugh and sit down, dragging the chair forward. Leo plops himself down in the chair beside me and reaches under the table to grab my backpack.

"So, to drink we have gasoline, lava, chilli juice, and liquid fire. Your choice," Leo grins.

I shake my head, amused and he pulls out two flasks. He puts one in front of me and one in front of him.

"I'm confused," Jason says. "You're flirting with Calypso.."

"And she hasn't broken your jaw," Percy marvels.

I ignore them and start cutting up my taco. "Leo's going to set course for Greece. That's where the battle against the Giants will be. We'll need Reyna's quest to finish as quickly as possible, because we need both the Greeks and the Romans fighting there."

Annabeth clears her throat. "We've got a slight problem. My brother, Malcolm, he Iris Messaged me today. My whole cabin is seeing clearly, but there's something wrong in the city. All of the mortals have fallen asleep, he said it's like the Titan War all over again."

"That's not all, is it?" I ask, searching her face.

Annabeth nods. "Malcolm reported campers to be falling unconscious too. Dropping in the middle of sword fighting, during dinner, while canoeing. If they step out of the borders, they fall asleep too. They've had to ban the lava wall in case someone falls asleep halfway up."

"How?" Frank asks.

"Hecate and Morpheus," Annabeth says grimly. "That's who it was last time."

"Hecate?" Hazel asks, startled, showing the first emotion from her that I've seen since I've gotten back.

"No," I shake my head. "Hecate's not stupid. If it didn't work the first time, she won't try the exact same move."

Hazel relaxes slightly and nods.

"So Camp Half-Blood can't help us," Leo summarises.

I nod and turn to Reyna. "That makes your quest even more urgent. The presence of the Athena Parthenos should get rid of the spell. It should also protect you when you're on your way in."

"I'll contact Malcolm and tell him what's happening," Annabeth nods. "By the way, if you two ever do that again, I'm going to kill both of you."

Percy nods in agreement and Piper chimes in. "Same here. After the war, all of us are going to get together, and talk about Tartarus."

I give Leo a look and he pleads with me with his eyes. I ignore Leo and clear my throat. "Actually, that might not be possible, Piper."

There's a dead silence.

"Why not?" Piper asks, with a hint of a threat in her voice.

"Because I won't be able to," Leo sighs, giving in to my glares.

"Beauty Queen," Leo says softly in answer to Piper's confused look. "I'm dying."

 **-SAW**


	16. Chapter 16

**Calypso**

I hand Zoë a backpack filled with provisions and food for the quest. I give Zoë a hug. "I feel like we've only just been reunited and you're going away."

Zoë smiles and pulls back. "We cannot fail the gods, Calypso."

I sigh. "I know, but after the war, I don't care if you're rejoining the Hunters, you need to spend some quality time with me."

"After the war," Zoë promises.

I nod and move on to Nico. I smile at him before grabbing him by wrist and dragging him away from the others saying their goodbyes.

Nico shakes me off and scowls. "What?"

"What are your feelings towards Zoë?" I ask, crossing my arms.

Nico's eyes widen then narrow. "If you're getting the idea that I'm in love with Zoë from Valdez, get real. You know he's an idiot without a brain."

I narrow my eyes at him and shift my weight. I consider where I should punch him.

"She's like my sister," Nico growls out. "I don't feel that way about her."

"Good," I say icily. "Because if you do, I'll kill you and spit on your dead body."

Nico doesn't flinch or show any sign of fear which kinda makes me respect him. "Are you done?" Nico asks darkly.

I nod and relax my expression a tiny bit. "Don't die."

"Thanks for the encouragement," Nico says sarcastically.

Nico stalks back to the Athena Parthenos and stands side by side with Zoë. By now it's getting hard to see in this darkness but we've agreed that they need to get going as soon as possible.

Reyna shoulders her backpack and grabs onto one of the ropes around the Athena Parthenos. Zoé grabs Nico's arm and they disappear into the shadows.

Leo slings an arm around me as I stare at the spot they'd disappeared from. We walk back towards the Argo II and the others drift back towards the ship as well.

"It's back to just us Eight," I say.

"Seven soon," Leo grins.

I drive my elbow into Leo's stomach without a word. I know what he's doing. He's joking about it to try to take the edge off the fact that he's dying, to help us, yet also getting himself used to the fact that he's going to die.

Leo doesn't get it, though. He's not going to die. I won't let him.

I don't know why he can't get it through his thick head. I would sacrifice the world if it meant saving him. All we need to do now is journey to Greece, and get a cure for Leo. It's not complicated.

Leo and I walk down to his room and after a quick check to see if anyone is around, Leo kisses me on the lips. We say goodnight and I walk briskly down to the girls' corridor. I knock on Hazel's door. I push the door open without waiting for her to answer and come in to sit on Hazel's bed.

"What's wrong with you?" I bluntly ask a shocked Hazel.

Hazel's expression clouds over and becomes guarded. "Nothing."

"Bull," I say brutally. "You've barely uttered a word since I've gotten back and you avoid any type of contact with Percy."

I didn't lie when I said I'm observant about my friends. Most of them are just relieved that we're back. But Hazel? She's a different case.

Hazel purses her lips and doesn't say anything so I press on. "You were using magic in that cave. When did you learn magic?"

Hazel focuses on the ground and I take a deep breath. "Hazel?" I say more softly. "What happened while we were gone?"

Kindness and gentleness are two traits that don't come easily to me. They didn't before I was imprisoned on Ogygia and they don't now.

I wrap an arm around Hazel cautiously and she cringes away from my touch.

"Sorry," Hazel says. "You're just...cold."

"Am I?" I ask surprised.

Hazel nods and crosses her arms tightly. This is a defensive move. A protective move.

"Hazel?" I say cautiously. "What are you hiding?"

Hazel sighs and uncrosses her arms before crossing them again. She squares her small shoulders and seems to come to a silent decision. "I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."

I nod and she uncrosses her arms again. "I'll go first."

So I ask questions, and this time she answers. In detail. As she tells her story, I listen intently, staring into her sad eyes, but as she starts to get into a flow, she abruptly stops.

"I can't tell you the rest," Hazel apologises. "It's personal."

I frown. "What you've told me doesn't explain any of my important questions."

In fact, it only answers one of my less important questions. But Hazel is adamant that I keep up my end of the deal so I let it go.

"Alright," I sigh. "What do you want to know?"

"What was that red liquid you and Leo were drinking at dinner?" Hazel asks.

"Phlegethon water," I say. "It's from the river Phlegethon. It was the river of healing in Tartarus, and we had to have it to survive down there. We're planning on slowly reducing the amount we have so that we can have normal drinks again."

Hazel nods. "How did you find Nico?"

"We ran into him," I say. "Leo and I were just walking through a forest when he appeared. He brought us to a safe place..." I trail off, remembering Bob and Damasen.

Hazel notices my pause, but doesn't push it. "Why do you look so...sick?"

I frown slightly at this. "What do you mean? Do I?"

I cross over to Hazel's bathroom and look in the mirror. Hazel's right. I've got unnaturally pale skin, and dark circles under my eyes. The messed up hair, torn clothes and various cuts and scrapes on my body are a given, but my eyes are empty. There's no light, no brightness, no spark of happiness.

I lost two friends in Tartarus. Three, if you count Laelaps. I've never actually lost someone like that. When I found out that Zoé was dead, a part of me just didn't believe it. I didn't need to as it became clear that she was still alive. But now, I know they're dead. Nico confirmed it in a whisper in the Doors of Death.

I walk back into the room with Hazel and sit back down. "It's just a side effect of Tartarus. It would also probably help if I washed up after this."

Hazel nods and I wait for her next question, which she soon delivers in a whisper. "Calypso?" Hazel asks shakily. "Do you really think we can win this war?"

I wrap my arms around a vulnerable and scared Hazel. "Oh, Hazel. Of course we will."

* * *

There's a lot to get into order the next day. Leo and I have to attend to the parts of the ship's control that have been messed up by a certain daughter of Athena and reroute us. Piper has to sort and divide the food we brought from Tartarus into eight different packs that we've agreed to take whenever we leave the ship. Hazel helps Piper add other demigod supplies. Percy and Annabeth plan our next route across the seas to Greece. Jason just helps wherever he can.

When we arrive at our destination it's about six in the morning. Despite the early hour, everyone- including Leo- is completely alert.

"A small group," I say, absentmindedly tracing a groove in the ship's railing. "Apollo will get intimidated if there's all of us there. He won't give us any information."

"Who do you suggest?" Piper asks, leaning into Jason's side.

I scan all of their faces, although I already know who I'm picking. "Me, Leo, and...Hazel."

Leo grins at me like he was expecting me to pick him, but Hazel widens her eyes in shock. "Me?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Piper, you got their backpacks? We need to head off now before Apollo starts his ride."

I'm trying not to treat Hazel like everyone else is. They're walking on eggshells around her. Though, try as I might, I do have an ulterior motive behind asking her to join Leo and I. Leo's funny, you can't take that away from him. Hopefully he can cheer Hazel up a bit.

Piper hands Leo and Hazel their new backpacks, and me my repacked backpack. She lays her hands on Venator and Vindex, who haven't left her side since our last meeting. Piper whispers into her dragons' ears and they shiver before bounding towards me.

"Piper," I say in an attempt to put her at ease. "Apollo knows how important these dragons are. They are the sacred dragons of Helios, god of the sun before Apollo. Apollo knows not to just throw them away. I will make sure he will look after them."

Piper nods reluctantly and I flash her a short smile before turning to Hazel and Leo. "Let's get going."

I set off at a quick jog and Hazel and Leo join me. I don't look back once.

We're in a mountain range, Zeus knows where, at the base of a mountain. The whole idea of Leo landing the Argo II at the bottom of the mountain was so that our conversation with Apollo would be private. We chose the mountains before they are closer to the sun.

The sun goes higher in the sky and I press on. Leo runs directly beside me and Hazel a few paces behind him. I resist the urge to trip Leo, reasoning that he will probably tumble to the bottom of the mountain.

We reach the top of the mountain, exhausted and covered in sweat. I tiredly instruct Hazel and Leo to take a few steps away and to close their eyes.

I drop to my knees and place a hand on both Venator and Vindex. I bow my head and whisper a prayer under my breath. Come on, I think to myself. Come on, you lazy sun god.

"Well that's not very nice," a masculine voice says.

I look up to see Apollo in all of his glory standing above me. A red...car? A red car is parked behind him, and Apollo shuts its door.

I hurriedly stand up and motion behind my back for Leo and Hazel to come forward. Venator and Vindex run up to Apollo and go crazy, leaping at him in playful lunges. Apollo snaps his fingers and the dragons go still by his side.

"Apollo," I say stiffly.

I take a step forward and slap him across the face with all of my power. "Thanks for voting for my imprisonment on Ogygia."

Apollo stumbles back and clutches at his cheek, but his stupid grin never leaves his face. "Missed you too, Cal."

I reach back to slap him again and he flinches back. "Don't ever call me that," I snarl at him, furious that that stupid grin hasn't left his face.

Hazel steps forward and gives a small curtsy. "Lord Apollo, we need your help."

 _Lord_ Apollo grins at Hazel. "Why didn't you just say so? How can I be of service?"

Hazel glances at me and I nod at her to continue, figuring I'll probably end up punching Apollo.

"In return for the sun dragons of Helios, we would be ever so grateful if you were to help us cure our friend. He's been poisoned," Hazel says, carefully phrasing her sentence.

"αντίστροφο," I say. "Have you heard of it?"

Apollo shrugs nonchalantly. "Sounds more like a curse than a poison to me. I don't keep track of curses, you'll have to try another god."

I step forward menacingly. "Apollo, I swear to all the gods..."

Apollo holds up his hands. "Okay! Okay! Chill! Lemme take a look."

Apollo steps towards Leo and places a hand on his chest. Apollo closes his eyes and Leo's breathing hitches. After a moment Apollo opens his eyes and steps away.

"Well?" I demand.

"I might know of a cure," Apollo says, trailing off. "But it's not easy to get."

"Does it look like I care?" I ask, crossing my arms with a steady glare.

"Alright," Apollo lowers his voice. "Here's what's you need."

 **-SAW**


	17. Chapter 17

**Nico di Angelo**

Could everyone just shut the Hades up about Zoë?

I don't like her that way. She's a huntress of Artemis. A sworn maiden. She's hundreds of years older than me. Also she was the one who convinced Bianca to join the Hunters.

Would you want to go out with a girl that ripped your sister from your grasp and indirectly caused her death? Exactly.

There's another reason, but...I don't want to go into it.

Moving on, we appear at the base of a mountain. Don't ask me where, I was stuck in a casino until the age of thirteen and I was brought to a school for a week before being nearly kidnapped and then taken to a camp. I don't know much about geography. Only enough to get back to Manhattan.

"Are you alright?" Zoë asks me as I stumble and collapse to the ground. My vision goes dark and I forcefully blink away dots. Exhaustion like I've never known takes over my body as well as a sharp headache.

Welcome to the joys of shadow-travelling.

"Peachy," I mutter darkly. "Side effect of shadow-travelling. Thanks for the concern Reyna."

Reyna looks down at me. "You don't need or want my pity, so why should I offer it?"

Reyna kicks a large rock away. "Shall we set up camp?"

"Obviously. If you think I'm going that far again without a break, you can go shove it up your-" I start.

"I will help you," Zoë says to Reyna.

In no time they have two tents set up and a raging campfire going. Zoë produces uncooked cubes of rabbit from her backpack- a gift from Calypso- and starts cooking them.

"You joining us di Angelo?" Reyna calls, narrowing her eyes at me.

I grumble but make to stand up. I use a small boulder to steady me and stand straight quickly. My vision goes black and I stumble and fall back to the ground. I grab my head in my hands blindly and grip it tightly. My vision slowly comes back into focus and Zoë is crouched over me.

Zoë smiles when I focus on her and helps me to my feet. I blink away the black dots rapidly as Zoë supports me to the campfire.

"You alright, di Angelo?" Reyna asks with a sliver of worry in her eyes.

"I'm fine," I grunt. I'm not used to people actually giving a Styx about me.

"Where are we?" Zoë asks.

"I don't know," I say, carefully sitting down with the help of Zoë. "I've gotten about a week's total of school in my entire life."

Reyna nods and hands me a long, thin, metal rod. "Have you ever tried spit-roasting before?"

I take the metal stick and mimic Zoë and Reyna as they stick pieces of rabbit meat onto the spit. I then copy them in the way that they hold the rod over the fire and turn it.

It amuses me how the fate of the world lays on this quest, and we're here sitting by a campfire, cooking dinner.

"When will you be able to shadow-travel again?" Reyna inquires.

I turn my food. "Ten hours. Do you want to wait and leave early in the morning? Or do you want to leave at four in the morning?"

"Let's leave at six," Reyna suggests. "It gives you a little more sleep to be running on."

I nod. "Sure. Zoë, you okay with this?"

Zoë nods and pulls my wrist away from the fire. "That's cooked now."

I hesitantly take a bite of the rabbit, relieved when it doesn't taste poisonous. It's actually not bad, so I finish it off. Reyna stands up and wipes her hands on her jeans.

"Goodnight," Reyna says, before disappearing into her tent and zipping it firmly.

"I guess we're sharing a tent," I sigh, looking at Zoë.

Zoë looks uncomfortable but nods. She puts out the campfire and helps me up. I put an arm around her shoulder and she helps me into the tent and to a sleeping bag. I nearly collapse onto the sleeping bag after unhooking my sword from my belt, and I tuck myself in.

I close my eyes and try to sleep as I hear Zoë lay down. After a few minutes when I hear Zoë still moving, I reopen my eyes. I sit up as my eyes adjust to the dark. "Where's your sleeping bag?"

"We only have one," Zoë says. "Considering you are on the verge of collapse, I believed it would be fair for you to have it."

I don't bother to argue, knowing I will just lose, but I deliberately stay up. When I hear Zoë's breathing even out, I slip out of the sleeping bag and unzip it all the way. I pick up Zoë with a grunt and wait for the black spots to clear from my vision. I then carefully place her in the sleeping bag and zip it back up.

I lay down the the cool fabric of the tent and close my eyes. I soon drift into a light sleep.

* * *

"Nico!" Someone shakes me. "Wake up!"

I don't groan and moan when I wake up, I open my eyes immediately and sit up. "Time to go?"

Zoë nods. "Reyna is already awake. Hurry."

Zoë disappears out the tent's opening and I stand up and stretch.

"Di Angelo!" Reyna appears at the tent opening. "Get moving. We need to leave soon. It's already half past six."

I pick up my sword and attach it to my belt before exiting the tent. The tent immediately folds in on itself once I'm outside and Zoë picks it up and puts it in her pocket.

I pick up the ropes of the Athena Parthenos and Reyna and Zoë both grab onto a rope. "Ready?" I ask.

I don't wait for a reply and breathe in deeply before we sink into the shadow of the mountain above us.

My knees buckle when we surface and my head hits the bottom of Athena's statue. I groan as the usual headache that comes with shadow-travelling appears. Someone tips my head back and trickles a few drops of nectar into my mouth.

After a minute, I raise my head and look around. "Where in Hades are we?"

We're in some sort of abandoned restaurant. Rotting tables and chairs are around the room and the windows are all broken. Outside the window is a dusty road and more and more empty buildings.

Reyna's hand is immediately on her spear. "What do you mean?"

"We should be in a forest somewhere," I say. "That's what appeared in my head when we shadow-travelled, that's where we should be."

Zoë immediately draws her bow and I struggle to my feet, leaning on the Athena Parthenos disrespectfully. Reyna and I both bring out our weapons and Zoë nocks an arrow, scanning the area.

Then it all happens so fast that I don't register it. Zoë drops her bow carelessly and unsheathes a knife. She swipes it through the air and a single silver dart that was heading towards my throat is knocked to the ground.

I trade out my sword for a spare dagger that is lighter and easier for me to hold, and push myself into a straight position. I tense and bring up the knife in front of me. And then-

"Hold your fire!"

Zoë quickly sheathes her knife and picks her bow back up. In a second she has it aimed at where the voice came from.

A girl with spiky, dark hair and a silver circlet on her head appears from inside a different shop. She wears the silver leggings of a huntress, but has on a black top that reads, Punk is not dead. You are. A canister of mace is hooked to her belt and something silver glints around her right wrist. My cousin holds up her hands in a peaceful gesture as she walks towards us.

"Thals?" I ask loudly, in order for her to hear.

Thalia nods at me with a smile. "Nico." She quickly switches her focus to Zoë, who has lowered her bow slightly. "How are you alive?"

Zoë frowns slightly and relaxes the string on her bow. "I do not know."

Reyna doesn't lower her weapon. "Why did you try to kill us?"

Thalia raises her hands and and slowly bends down to pick up the arrow. She shows it to us and I can see that there is a small vial built into the arrow. "It's a tranquilliser. We weren't trying to kill you."

Zoë pulls the string back on her bow again but doesn't aim it at Thalia. "You were trying to kidnap us, then?"

Thalia shrugs and drops the arrow. "Temporarily."

I readjust my grip on my dagger, ready to defend myself from my cousin if need be. "Where are we?"

"Puerto Rico," Thalia says, not missing a beat. "I thought Reyna of all people would recognise this place."

"Viejo San Juan," Reyna says, stalking up to Thalia and placing her spear against her throat. "How did you know that?"

Zoë raises her bow and directs it at the spot that Thalia had appeared from. I turn and point my dagger towards the doorway to my right as I sense a movement in the shadows.

Thalia immediately hardens her expression and her hands twitch. "I suggest you drop your weapon, praetor."

"Tell me how you know that," Reyna says, not budging.

"Lower your weapon," Thalia says, her voice tight. "Last chance."

I remember at the last second. "Reyna, her bracelet!"

Thalia hits her bracelet with her left hand and bats aside Reyna's spear with the shield that appears. She grabs the canister of mace that's hooked to her belt and it morphs into a spear.

Reyna immediately strikes at Thalia's head and Zoë fires three arrows in succession, taking down three figures in the distance with minor injuries. I melt into the shadows and reappear in the doorway in which I had sensed movement from within earlier.

I ignore my exhaustion and close my eyes, figuring I won't see anything anyway. I use the shadows to sense my enemies and I bring the hilt of my knife down on someone's head. A body collapses with a thud and I turn my head to the side as somethings whooshes past my cheek.

I open my eyes, thankful when I can see again, and drop to a knee to sweep out the legs of a girl closer to me. She hits her head as she falls and doesn't get back up. One more girl is standing ten metres away from me.

The girl looks shocked that I dodged her arrow and hasn't moved yet. I throw my knife and she turns to avoid it, just as I had anticipated. The knife goes straight through her bow string and hits the ground behind her.

The girl grits her teeth and draws two hunting knives. I smirk at her and she charges. I sink into the floor and reappear behind her. I pick up my dagger and throw it, into the girl's shoulder. She drops to the floor and I very nearly do the same.

I brace myself against the wall and close my eyes tightly as I try not to pass out. I open my eyes and unhook my sword from my belt to use as a walking cane. The girl who I just dropped glares at me as I pass her, but I can see a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

I stumble out the doorway and Zoë spots me. "Are you alright, Nico?"

Zoë fires an arrow that literally shatters another arrow headed for Reyna, who is still fighting Thalia. You know, for people that aren't trying to kill us, they sure are getting really close.

Zoë backs up to where I am but continues to block any arrows going for Reyna. I stumble and collapse to the ground, my head spinning and my body begging me to rest.

"Nico!" Zoë drops to my side, temporarily forgetting about the people attacking us.

Zoë doesn't see the six arrows going for Reyna's head the second Zoë looks away. Neither does Reyna. But Thalia does, and so do I.

Thalia raises her shield to block the arrows and shouts something at where they came from, but it turns her back to Reyna, who immediately raises her spear for the final blow.

I gather my energy. _One last time_ , I promise myself. I shadow-travel over to Thalia and practically fall on top of her, shoving her out of the way. Reyna's spear impales me through the shoulder and I immediately drop to my knees.

"Nico?" Thalia gasps.

"What did I tell you about watching your back, Thals?" I cough out.

Reyna lets go of her spear in shock and I pull the spear out of my shoulder before collapsing to the ground.

 **-SAW**


	18. Chapter 18

**Leo Valdez**

In my opinion, it's all a waste of time.

We honestly don't have the time to be doing all of this stuff that Apollo told us to do. The final battle is in a week and we're worrying about the life of a single demigod. Our quest is about the lives of _every_ demigod out there.

We should be training. Preparing for the fight. Getting in contact with any demigods that might live in Greece. Helping New Rome with their transportation. Keeping up to date with the situation at Camp Half-Blood. More training. Scouting out Mount Olympus. More training.

Instead we're worrying about one boy's life. My life.

"For the gods' sakes, Leo, shut up!" Calypso says loudly. "We're doing this whether you like it or not!"

Everyone on the deck stops what they're doing and stares at us. Calypso glares furiously at them even though they haven't done anything wrong.

Calypso takes a step forward and leans in so her mouth is right next to my ear. "I swear to the gods, if you have suddenly gone suicidal and try to sabotage this mission, I will castrate you," she whispers threateningly in my ear.

"I'm just trying to be realistic," I whisper back. "We should be sounding out where Camp Jupiter is now and helping them get their butts over here."

We're currently in Greece, but nowhere near Mount Olympus. Calypso vetoed the idea of scouting it out any earlier than we need to because in order to wake Gaia, they need to sacrifice a male and female demigod. And guess who's right on the top of that list?

"Everything alright?" Annabeth asks cautiously.

"Yeah," Calypso nods, her mood taking a full one-eighty degree turn. "We figured out our plan for today."

"We did?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

"You and Piper will be heading to Sparta to find the chained god's heartbeat, and Jason, Leo and I will be headed to Asclepius. Frank, Hazel and Percy watch the ship, and see if you can get in contact with the Romans."

"Don't we need the makhai for the cure?" Annabeth asks. "How will Asclepius make it?"

"Iris Messgae me when you're done and I'll come and collect you. We would be coming with you but we need to make sure that there aren't any obstacles between us and Asclepius. Apollo said that a replicate of Hygeia is guarding him," Calypso replies. "Percy, Frank, Hazel? You guys okay with this?"

Percy, Frank and Hazel give nods of agreement. Calypso stares at the three, and I can almost see the gears turning in her head.

"Actually," Calypso says. "Could you go with Annabeth and Piper, Frank? It's only fair that your group has three people as well."

Annabeth shoots Calypso a quizzical look, but then understanding seems to dawn upon her. "Yeah, Frank," Annabeth agrees. "We could use the help."

Frank looks slightly taken aback but nods. "Sure."

"Great," Calypso nods. "Percy, Hazel, grab our backpacks, will you?"

The two disappear down the stairs and Annabeth immediately lets out a laugh. "Nice thinking, Calypso."

Calypso allows a smirk to cross her face. "Those two are driving me nuts."

"Did I miss something?" I question. "Or are you two just telepathic now?"

"I'm sure you've heard about locking two people in a room when they're fighting," Annabeth says, smiling.

"This is our equivalent," Calypso finishes, smirking. "Should we block their rooms with something so they don't lock themselves away?"

Hazel and Percy reappear at the top of the stairs, each with three backpacks in their hands. Calypso clicks her fingers with her right hand and I sense the locks slide into place on the doors of all the rooms. The six of us exchange grins as they figure what Calypso's done.

I accept my backpack from Hazel and slide it onto my back. "Thanks, Haze."

Despite never showing any emotion other than weariness lately, Hazel still manages to send me a bone-chilling glare. I shrink back with over-exaggeration and hide behind Calypso. When Calypso pushes me back, I see a hint of amusement in Hazel's eyes.

Calypso offers her hand to me and I take. She then holds out her other hand to Jason. "Jason?"

Jason grabs her hand and I squeeze my eyes shut. My stomach leaps and I open my eyes. "Holy-"

I don't finish my sentence, instead choosing to shove Jason and Calypso away from me. A giant metallic snake wraps itself around me and lifts me off the ground. The metal coils of the snake tighten around me, turn me upside-down and bring me up to the face of a female statue.

"Unacceptable!" The statue of Hygeia screeches. "Completely inexcusable! Storming in here without being checked first!"

Out of the corner of my eye I see Calypso and Jason get to their feet and draw their weapons. The statue is a young girl is a white robe, about ten foot tall. In one hand she holds a chalice, which seems to have steam rising from it.

"Hi Hygeia," I manage. "Please don't eat me."

The snake was mechanical, I could feel that from my child-of-Hephaestus powers. Its design amazed me. The technology and skill required to invent- let alone build this machine is unseen to our world.

And the gods wasted it on duplicate of a snake. Typical.

"Hygeia!" Calypso calls. "Put Leo down!"

Thanks, Calypso. That really helped.

"Do you have an appointment?" Hygeia asks. "No one can see the doctor without an appointment."

The snake suddenly retracts from around me and I fall to the ground. This time I'm not stupid enough to try to land on my feet. I manage to pull off a roll to absorb most of the impact, but I groan out from my position on the floor.

Calypso carefully approaches me and drags me back from Hygeia. "We were sent by Apollo," she says calmly to the statue. "Can we please see Asclepius?"

Hygeia looks down at Calypso, unimpressed. "Have you prepared for your visit?"

Jason, Calypso and I exchange unsure looks.

"Have you washed your hands?" Hygeia demands. "Are those new clothes?"

"Well not exactly," I say nervously, earning a sharp elbow from Calypso.

"I am afraid that you are a health hazard," Hygeia announces. "Please stay still while you are sanitised."

The golden snake uncoils itself again and starts to move towards us. Calypso tenses beside me and Jason's javelin transforms into a sword. I slip a pearly-white dagger out of its sheath on my belt.

Then the snake lunges.

I dive to my left while Jason dives to the right. Calypso waits until the last second before darting away and bringing down her knives into the snake's neck. The snake shudders and stops for a second, before it shudders again and the knives slide out of the snake and fall to the ground, showing no proof of there ever being a wound.

Calypso recovers from the shock quickly and goes to get her knives at the same time that Hygeia splashes whatever liquid is in her cup.

"Watch out!" I shout, getting back to my feet.

Calypso doesn't hesitate, and dives to her right. The acid from the cup steams as it hits the ground and burns a small hole in the floor. She grabs her knives and rushes back to us.

Jason takes a quick glance at me. "Get a plan. I'll distract."

Jason runs past Calypso, wielding his golden sword and slashes through Hygeia's legs. As if magnetic, the legs just rejoin onto the statue's body and Jason has to dodge a splash of acid.

"What's the plan?" I ask Calypso.

Calypso scowls. "I'm not the only one with a brain around here. You tell me."

I think quickly. "Erm, alright. The snake's mechanical. We just need to cut it in half or something and ruin its insides."

"The statue?" Calypso asks.

"Let's worry about the snake first," I say, shaking my head. "Let's deal with it while Jason keep Hygeia busy."

"Actually," Calypso says. "You can cut it in half and I'll set its insides on fire."

I raise my eyebrows at her, surprised she isn't jumping at the chance to fight.

"You really think I'll be able to cut it in half with my knives?" Calypso asks sarcastically. She scans me, suddenly realising something. "Where in Hades is your sword?"

I grin and shake my head, before run towards the snake as it recovers from a failed lunge at Jason. A silver arrow clips it on the head as it turns back to Jason, and it takes notice of me.

The snake lunges at me and I duck below its head. I instantly regret it as the rest of the snake's body follows on the ground. I roll out of the way and raise my alabaster white knife. I push a button on the hilt and it expands into the drakon-bone sword I got from Iapetus as I slash down onto the snake's body.

Instantly, a jet of fire springs from behind me and towards the inside of the snake before the snake's upper half can even finish falling to the ground. The fire melts the inside of the snake, removing any trace of any important mechanisms.

Before I can say anything to Calypso, she has shot an arrow at Hygeia as she attacks an obviously tiring Jason. The arrow distracts Hygeia, and I grab the back of Jason's top and drag him back.

"Got a plan?" Jason pants once we're out of range of Hygeia's little acid trick.

"Leo," Calypso says, without looking at me.

"If I can get to Hygeia's head, I should be able to reprogram her system. Jason, could you give me a lift up to her head? And Calypso, can you talk to Hygeia, and keep her distracted?"

Jason nods but Calypso glares at me. "Do _not_ mistake me for Piper," she says dangerously.

"Fine," I say. "I'll play at bull riding with Hygeia. Jason, _please_ try and catch me when I fall to my death."

Calypso shakes her loose hair out of her face and runs at Hygeia without another word. She darts between Hygeia's legs, giving them both a good slash and therefore forces Hyegia to face the other way.

"Jason?" I say. "The lift?"

Jason grabs me by the arm and flies me up to Hygeia's head. I land roughly, but due to the lack of nerves, Hygeia doesn't notice me. I pop open the back of Hygeia's head and get to work. The circuiting and mechanics of this statue are unheard of in this century, I just can't bring myself to destroy it. Instead, I quickly find the regulator chip and make a few changes. As soon as I touch Hygeia's regulating chip she notices I'm on her head.

Hygeia staggers around, splashing acid all over the place. "Get off! This is not hygienic!"

I grip more quickly onto Hygeia before reconnecting her circuits rewiring a few things. When I'm done, I take a leap of faith and jump off Hygeia, pushing myself as far away as possible. Jason uses the winds to propel me away from Hygeia, and I land gently. Jason and Calypso soon join me.

An Iris Message pops up just as Hygeia starts pouring acid on herself.

"Hey," Annabeth says, giving me an almost heart attack.

She looks exhausted and injured in a place places and manages a tired smile. "We got the makhai. Can you come get us?"

Calypso nods and disappears just as the Iris Message dissolves. She reappears with Piper, Frank and Annabeth and drops to one knee.

I quickly pull out a flask of Phlegethon water and hand it to Calypso. She takes it and gulps down some wincing.

"That just never tastes any better, does it?" Calypso says, screwing up her face.

Annabeth surveys the room and takes note of the decapitated metal snake and insane statue. "You've been busy."

"Leo was supposed to melt her brains," Calypso remarks, nodding at Hygeia.

I shake my head and wipe away a fake tear. "I couldn't destroy machinery so beautiful."

"First of all," Calypso says. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't a sentence. Second of all, I have never seen the word _beautiful_ cross your lips. And third of all, I'm beginning to think you like Hygeia more than me."

I sling an arm around Calypso. "Aw, don't worry. You're just as beautiful, babe."

Annabeth immediately pounces on my slip-up. " _Babe_? Is there something you're not telling us?"

"What?" Calypso says innocently. "That's what friends do."

"Yeah," I put in. "And Calypso calls me Hunk Muffin-" I cut myself off with a grunt as Calypso roughly lunches me in the stomach.

"To clear it up," Calypso says. "I _don't_ call him that."

Calypso laces her fingers through mine. "And another thing we need to clear up."

I clear my throat. "Calypso's pregnant."

Before anyone can even react, Calypso punches me in the chest, kicks me in the groin then drops to the ground to sweep my legs out from underneath me.

"I'm not," Calypso says quickly. "Gods _no_."

Calypso helps me up and looks me in the eyes as she says her next words clearly. "We're dating."

 **-SAW**


	19. Chapter 19

**Nico di Angelo**

"You idiot," Thalia Grace mutters. She presses her hands against my wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. "You little idiot, di Angelo."

I let out a small cry of pain as Thalia presses down on the wound but I voice no complaint. Reyna is frozen in shock at what has just happened.

Zoë appears next to me, her bow loaded with three arrows. "Thalia, tell the Hunters to stand down."

Thalia waves the Hunters off. "Stand down! Where's Phoebe?!"

Zoë drops her bow and kneels beside me. Reyna shakes her head as if to clear it, and drops to her knees beside me.

"I dropped her in the hallway," I muster a grin. "She has a knife in her shoulder."

"What the Hades, Nico?!" Thalia says, temporarily forgetting about my injury.

"She's fine," I mutter. "I didn't throw it hard. She was playing injured. She was gonna attack me from behind afterwards."

"Zoë, can you get Phoebe?" Thalia asks.

Zoë disappears and comes back with a girl in a Hunter of Artemis' uniform and an already bandaged shoulder. She glares at me. "You."

"Yeah, me," I say, my speech slightly slurred.

"Phoebe, can you help him?" Thalia asks impatiently.

Phoebe nods, scowling. "Get me my backpack."

"Get me Phoebe's backpack!" Thalia yells at her hunters.

Thalia presses her hands more firmly against my wound, and I groan in pain. "Come on," Thalia mutters to herself. "Come on! Hurry up!"

A Hunter runs up with a backpack in hand and Phoebe takes it without a word. "Get his shirt off," Phoebe orders Thalia, dropping to her knees beside me and sifting through her backpack.

"Not a sentence I thought you'd ever say," Thalia mutters, obviously trying to distract herself from the severity of the situation. She unsheathes a hunting knife from her thigh and cuts away my top. Reyna moves closer and take Thalia's spot in staunching the blood flow.

"Gods, I'm so sorry Nico," Reyna mutters under her breath.

I manage a drunken grin at Reyna, but I'm struggling to remain conscious. Phoebe pushes Reyna away from me to have a closer look at the wound. I groan out in pain when she touches my wound. Phoebe then dunks some bandages into a canteen from her bag and wraps up my wound. I sigh in relief as what I assume is nectar kicks in.

"I can't do much," Phoebe says. "He needs time to heal. The rotator tendon wasn't cut, but you scraped the bone. He probably won't have motion in his left upper arm, but if he does he shouldn't move it at all. I can put his arm into a sling, which will lessen jostling." She glances at Reyna. "Have you got any nectar?"

"I've got unicorn draught," Reyna says, brushing the hair out of her face.

"Even better," Phoebe says. "Make sure he takes some every few hours."

"Anything else?" Reyna asks.

"I can't do much without the proper equipment," Phoebe says, shaking her head. "You're heading to Camp Half-Blood, right? When you get there, get him to the infirmary and get him under surgery. There's possible nerve damage as well as blood vessels, and a proper check on his rotator tendon. The spear broke part of his shoulder bone, and they need to get out the stray pieces of bone as soon as possible."

As she was speaking, Phoebe had equipped my left arm with a sling and now sits back to observe her work. "Make sure he doesn't use his arm until the Apollo cabin have checked it over. If nothing else is wrong, it should just take time."

I sit up carefully and my left shoulder explodes in pain. I grit my teeth as that combined with my raging headache from shadow-travelling hits me hard.

The strange thing about shadow-travel, is that it sends painful and jolting headaches to my brain, but it also makes my mind beg to sleep. It's kinda hard to sleep when someone is repeatedly stabbing you in the head.

Thalia wraps me in a careful hug. "Thanks, Nico. You saved my life."

I shift, uncomfortable with the hug. "Thals, you're like my sister. You would've done the same for me."

Thalia pulls away and ruffles my hair. "Aww. You're like my little brother too, Neeks."

"About fifty years older than you," I remind Thalia. "And don't mess with my hair."

Zoë offers my her hand, and I hoist myself up with my good arm. "Cheers, Zoë."

"Can we have a discussion without trying to kill each other now?" Thalia asks, with a pointed glare at Reyna.

Reyna snorts. "Please. Didn't my sister warn you to expect as much?"

Thalia raises her eyebrows. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The initials on the chalkboard," Reyna says, pointing. "HTK. Hylla Twice-Kill. Her new nickname among the Amazons. It only just came to me."

Thalia extends her hand towards Reyna. "You're sharp. If you ever get the chance, you'd make a good Hunter. We good?"

Reyna shakes Thalia's offered hand. "We're good. Sorry about trying to spear you when your back was turned."

"Low blow," Thalia nods. "I would've had you if not for that."

"Later," I cut in before Reyna can reply. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't just stop by to say hello?" Thalia asks.

"Thals, I took a spear for you not ten minutes ago. The whole fight started because you were giving us vague replies. I think we deserve some answers."

"You're right," Thalia sighs, looking around almost nervously. "Not here, though. We've got a base set up not too far away. We'll have a couple words with you, then send you on your way with a few parting gifts."

I glance at Zoë and Reyna. Zoë gives me a nod, and Reyna gives a slight twitch of the head. "Alright," I say to Thalia. "We'll go. But first can I get something for this headache?"

* * *

"So, your sister's queen of the Amazons," I say to Reyna.

I'm leaning heavily on Thalia as she and Zoë have their own conversation. We're inside the Amazon compound now, walking through deserted corridors.

"Yes," Reyna replies, twisting the ring on her finger absentmindedly. "I saw her at the recent battle at Camp Jupiter. Percy, Annabeth, Hazel and Frank ran into them on their quest."

I feel a slight lurch in my chest at the mention of Percy, but not as much as usual. I honestly think being in Tartarus has helped to dull down my feelings for Percy. I give a small shudder as memories of that hell come to me.

I guess I can say I didn't come out too well from that encounter with Akhlys. She, I don't know quite what happened, but she used some sort of poison on me. Not one like Leo's, one that promises a slow and painful death. But one that haunts me every night, in my dreams.

When that...poison was used on me, I saw Bianca, my dead sister. Bianca scowled at me, yelled at me, said how annoying I was, called me clingy, said it was me that drove her to the Hunters, to her death.

Then Percy, one of my past idols appeared too, and I saw him in a different light. This Percy was dark and sinister. He wasn't kind, or a seaweed brain. He scorned me too. For being gay. For being so dark. He said too that I was the reason Bianca died.

I get flashbacks of it every night.

"Nico?" Reyna asks, and I realise I've been silent for a long time.

"Yeah?" I ask, clearing my mind of thoughts from Tartarus.

"Are you alright?" Reyna asks. Thalia and Zoë are both looking at us now.

"You seemed to zone out for a bit," Reyna says, looking at me with concern. "Is your shoulder hurting?"

I resist the urge to move my shoulder around to check. "No. It's gone kinda numb, actually."

"Nerve damage," Phoebe mutters to Thalia. "He really needs surgery."

"I'll be fine," I cut into their conversation. "Good to know you care, Phoebe."

Phoebe glares at me and say a few unrepeatable words. "I'll go tell Hylla you're here," she says to Thalia, glaring at me once more before jogging away.

"So why are the Hunters working for the Amazons?" Reyna asks, raising an eyebrow.

"With, not for," Thalia corrects. "Our two groups are similar in many ways. Lately, we've had very similar problems."

"I'll explain when we get to Hylla," Thalia says quickly when she sees my expression. "It's just around this corner."

We turn a corner into a gigantic room. It's practically a warehouse. Giant shelves stretch on for what seems like miles, stacked with boxes. Forklifts are driven by girls in black trousers and black vests, selecting boxes from the shelves. In the middle of all of this mess, is a desk covered in various weapons. Behind this desk sits a girl who is talking to Phoebe.

"Sister," the girl rises, looking at Reyna. "It's been too long."

"You tried to have me kidnapped not thirty minutes ago," Reyna says tightly. "I don't want a happy family reunion, I want some answers."

Hylla moves around the desk to walk up to Reyna. As she walks, I can't help but notice the similarities between Reyna and Hylla. They share the same long dark hair and eyes. The same silver ring. The same guarded look in their eyes. Even the way that Hylla always has her hand rested against a sheath at her belt as she's walking is the same.

"It's nice to see you too," Hylla responds, Reyna's reply not faltering her.

"Just tell us why we're here," Reyna says, narrowing her eyes. "Or we're leaving."

"Everyone knows about the upcoming war with the Giants," Hylla says. "There have been less monster attacks up until recently. We think Gaia is gathering all of the monsters she can for the final battle."

"Up until recently?" Reyna questions, shifting her weight from one foot onto the other.

"Lately there's been a lot of attacks," Hylla says. "Not large amounts of monsters like hellhounds, but small groups of smarter monsters like empousa or dracaena. They don't try to kill us. They collapse our tunnels, meddle with our weapons supply, attack our convoys, take out our satellites."

"They're trying to cut you off," Reyna summarises. "To disable you."

"Not just us," Hylla says. "The Hunters have been having the same problem, except they're an easier target because they out in the open. They've had to seek refuge in our compound for the time being. Gaia really doesn't want us fighting in this war."

"You're fighting, right?" Reyna asks.

"Of course," Hylla replies promptly. "We won't leave a single Amazon behind, and we'll have to leave our compound completely deserted. Gaia's forces will reduce it to rubble in no time."

"Shame," Reyna says. "Your point?"

"My Amazons have been looking to relocate anyway," Hylla says. "Somewhere closer to the fight. We'd like your permission to set up our new compound in Camp Jupiter. I'm sure my Amazons would be more... _keen_ to fight if that were to be the case."

Reyna narrows her eyes. "We have a free field far away from main campus, but you'll have to clear the field yourself and build your compound without our help. And you may _not_ harm any of the males without being provoked. If you try to damage camp in any way, you _will_ be banished from Camp Jupiter forever."

"I'm sure we can agree to that," Hylla says calmly. "Do we have a deal?"

"I'll have to clear it with the Senate first," Reyna says. "But as I am praetor, I'm sure there'll be no problem."

Hylla offers Reyna her hand, and Reyna shakes it firmly.

Hylla glances at Zoë and I. "You can rest here until you're ready to shadow-travel again."

I nod my head in acknowledgement. Zoë says, "Thank you."

"Thalia," Hylla says. "Could you lead these two to their room? I need to have a talk with my sister."

My eyes flicker to Reyna and she gives me a small nod. Thalia leads us out of the room. "I hope you three don't mind sharing," Thalia says. "It's amazing that even though this place is huge, they can't seem to find three rooms to spare."

"It's fine," I say.

Thalia glances at Zoë. "What about you? You fine with sharing a room with a male?"

"We will be fine," Zoë promises.

Thalia raises an eyebrows at her. "You really have changed. Lady Artemis might murder Nico after this just to make sure you're not thinking of him in that way."

 _I don't like girls_ , I want to scream at Thalia. _Could everyone stop saying that Zoë and I are together?_

Thalia brings us to a white room with three separate single beds. I drop my backpack beside one and Thalia disappears from the doorway. I sit down on the edge of the bed and Zoë picks the bed next to me.

"Have you got any unicorn draught?" I ask Zoë.

"Here," Zoë says, passing me her backpack.

I unzip the bag and reach for the silver flask. As I pull it out of the bag, a small piece of paper floats out and drifts to the floor with it. I pick it up and read it.

A small smile forms on my face and I pass the note to Zoë.

The note is addressed to Zoë, and it has three simple words on it.

 _Bob says hello._

 **-SAW**


	20. Chapter 20

**Leo Valdez**

I wasn't expecting the slap from Piper, but she quickly tackles me to the ground in a hug afterwards. "Oh my gods, why didn't you tell us?"

"I am surrounded by violent and abusive people," I groan out from my position on the floor.

Piper quickly climbs off me and winks at Calypso. "My bad. He's all yours."

Calypso pulls me up and I glare halfheartedly at Piper. "Really? Was that necessary?"

"Extremely," Annabeth puts in, recovering from the shock. "I'm happy for you two."

"Congrats, man," Jason nods at me, a grin on his face.

Piper shakes her head, a permanent gigantic smile on her face. "How?!"

Calypso laughs. "I ask myself that everyday." She smiles at me. "But I haven't regretted it yet."

"Awww," I say, dragging it out. "Thanks, _mamacita_."

"Inappropriate," Calypso says in a warning tone.

Piper looks back and forth between us. "What did that mean?"

"As interesting as our relationship is," Calypso cuts in smoothly. "I have to cure my boyfriend. Leo if you'd do the honours."

Calypso gestures to the door and I quickly get to work, pulling out a screwdriver and opening the panel next to it. I cut two wires and cross them, quickly fusing them together. It lets out a pleasant ding and the doors slide smoothly open.

"Ladies first," I say, stepping back and gesturing towards the door.

Calypso punches me in the arm, but goes in first, readying her bow. She looks to the left and lowers her bow immediately. I walk in after her to see why.

"Asclepius," Calypso says respectfully, nodding her head. "It's an honour."

Asclepius sits behind a desk calmly, studying us with kind eyes. He wears a white lab coat over a business suit with glass, and looks like your everyday doctor. However, in his hands is a staff with a snake curled around it.

"Calypso," he says warmly. "It is wonderful to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"Are you just famous within the gods and Titans then?" I whisper to Calypso. "Why the Hades does everyone know you?"

"Doctor Asclepius," Piper says in her most friendly tone. "We'd be ever so grateful for your help. We need the Physician's Cure."

"Ahh," Asclepius says, nodding. "The Physician's Cure! Can heal anything, even the recently deceased! I'd love to be of help."

"Come," Asclepius says, gesturing us forward. "Sit! Sit!"

We cautiously sit down as Asclepius summons more chairs. "Now," he says, leaning forward. "Have you got all the ingredients? The makhai? The flower picked by Apollo? The Pylosian mint?"

"Hold up," Calypso cuts in. "What was that last one?"

Asclepius adjusts his glasses. "Surely you have the Pylosian mint! Did my father not inform you of that ingredient?"

Calypso curses. "No! That idiotic sun god!"

"Do you know where we can get it?" Annabeth asks quickly. "We can get it quickly."

"Of course," Asclepius beams. "You may want to take your two friends on your ship as well as your shape-shifting friend."

Frank looks startled. "Me?"

"Of course, you," Asclepius says brightly. "They're your relatives, after all!"

Calypso raises an eyebrow at Frank. "Relatives?"

"No idea what you're talking about," Frank shakes his head.

Asclepius tuts. "Fine. I will give you a device to find them, but you must be the one to talk to them."

Asclepius fishes an old compass from his desk draws and I raise an eyebrow. "You couldn't like give him a GPS?"

"Thank you," Piper intervenes. "Calypso, could you take Frank there?"

Calypso nods and sends me a fleeting smile before grabbing Frank and disappearing.

"In the meantime," Asclepius says, smiling. "Let me look at the rest of you."

He turns to Piper first. "Piper McLean, is it not? Broken arm when you were six. Healed now. Vegetarian diet. That's fine, just make sure you're getting enough iron and protein. Otherwise, you are completely fine."

Piper jaw had dropped. "How did you know all that? That's really impressive."

Asclepius smiles, a hint of smugness coming through. "Thank you, my dear."

Asclepius looks at Jason. "Jason Grace. A few head injuries, nothing serious. A spear to the shoulder a few weeks ago, healed wonderfully. A bit shortsighted. Simple fix."

Asclepius waves his hand and a glasses case appears. He writes something an a pad of paper before ripping it off and handing both to Jason. "Keep the prescription. Try them on."

Jason puts them on. "Wow, that's loads better. I thought I was just tired."

"An easy mistake to make," I laugh. "You look like such a nerd."

Jason glares at me and Asclepius frowns slightly. "You. Leo Valdez." His frown deepens. "Ahh. I see the problem. Akhlys herself. Nevertheless, the cure will completely remove the poison. Recently back from Tartarus? Make sure to keep drinking the Phlegethon water. Slowly try to cut back on it."

Calypso teleports back in and I quickly stand to help her collapse into her chair, clearly exhausted. Four teleports in the past ten minutes. Gods, that must be taking a toll on her.

Asclepius takes a look at her. "You need to stop using your powers so much, and get more sleep. It's taking a mental drain on your health. Keep up with the Phlegethon water. A spear through the chest a few weeks ago, but that's healed up nicely."

Calypso raises an eyebrow at me, with a _what the hades just happened?_ look.

 _Check ups_ , I mouth and she nods in understanding.

"How're Frank, Percy and Hazel going?" I ask, watching as Calypso rearranges herself in a less slumped over position.

"Good," Calypso says. "When I left, Frank was talking to some guy that had just changed back from a dragon."

"Sweet," I nod. "How are they getting back?"

"Nico taught Hazel how to shadow-travel," Calypso replies. "They'll be fine."

"Annabeth Chase," Asclepius says, regaining my attention as he looks at Annabeth. "Good health. A poisoned dagger to the shoulder a few months ago, but that's all."

Asclepius briefly closes his eyes. "Ahh. Your friends are finished and travelling over in a few seconds. I hope you don't mind if I give them check ups too. It's been so long since I've had any patients."

"Of course not," Piper says graciously. "Thank you again, so much, for agreeing to make the Physician's Cure for us."

Suddenly the room darkens and Hazel, Percy and Frank stumble out of a particularly dark corner. Hazel nearly collapses, but Frank catches her.

"Hey guys," Percy grins at us. "When did you get glasses, Jason?"

Jason quickly takes his glasses off and stuffs them in their case.

"Here," Calypso says, holding out her hand. Jason gratefully gives her his glasses case and she puts them in her backpack.

Hazel, Frank and Percy take seats and Asclepius looks at Piper. "If I may?"

"Go ahead," Piper says, with a warm smile.

Asclepius examines Frank who gives us a panicked look. "Perfect health," Asclepius says. "Lactose intolerant though."

Percy raises his eyebrows when Asclepius turns to him, but Annabeth gives him a just go with it gesture.

"Percy Jackson," Asclepius muses. "Formerly had the curse of Achilles, lost it when travelling to Ogygia. You have Hera to thank for that."

Asclepius finally turns to an exhausted and slumped over Hazel. "Hazel Levesque." Hazel straightens herself. "Died, if I am correct. Recently brought back without knowledge of the gods. And ahhh. I see."

"What?!" Calypso asks quickly, leaning forward.

Hazel crosses her arms over her chest defensively. "What is it?"

"My dear," Asclepius says sadly. "It will not work. If you have truly foreseen it, it is unstoppable."

Hazel glares at the god. "Nothing is unstoppable. There are always four ways to go."

Asclepius regards her gravely. "You've been talking to Hecate."

"So what if she has?" Calypso asks defensively. "Hecate favours her. Is that against the Ancient Laws now?"

"What's going on?" I ask, confused. "Who's Hecate?"

"Goddess of the Mist, crossroads and magic," Annabeth mutters to me. "She was on the Titan's side in the last war."

"Calypso," Asclepius says sorrowfully. "You know not her plan."

"My plan is irrelevant," Hazel says coldly. This is the most emotion she has shown in the past week.

"The Physician's Cure?" Calypso prompts, taking the vial from Percy and handing it to Asclepius.

"Of course," Asclepius says, hastily taking the ingredients, before hesitating. "Why did I agree to make this again?"

"Because we asked nicely," Piper says, charmspeak lacing her voice although her tone is cold.

"That's right," Asclepius agrees, his eyes glazing over.

He places the ingredients in front of his lovely python on a stick. The python widens its mouth.

"Summon the _makhai_ ," Asclepius instructs Piper.

Piper closes her eyes and a violent wind gathers. Angry voices fill the air and the sound of war pierces the room. The wind is tinged red and the python opens its mouth widely and swallows it down. He then snaps up the daisy and the Pylosian mint.

The snake shakes violently and for a second I think it might explode, but it then opens its mouth and spits out a green vial.

Asclepius picks it up and offers it to me. "Here you go."

I take it cautiously and nervously look at Calypso. She gives me a nod, and I uncap the vial. "Bottoms up, I guess."

I tip the vial's contents into my throats and immediately try to cough it up, cursing. I hit the floor, convulsing. My vision blackens and Calypso's face above me swims in and out of focus.

I don't know how long it is until my vision clears, but when it does I groan out in pain. I blink up at Calypso. "Hey Cal."

"Valdez," Calypso replies. She looks at Asclepius. "Is he cured now?"

"Yes," Asclepius nods. "Slowly wean him off the Phlegethon water. Same for yourself."

Calypso helps me up and I stumble slightly when upright, as my vision temporarily goes black. Calypso steadies me and raises an eyebrow at Asclepius.

"He just needs to sleep off the effects of the potion," Asclepius answers. "It was very nice to meet you, Calypso."

"Likewise," Calypso replies. "Come on. Let's go."

Asclepius sifts through some of the papers on his desk and we make our way towards the door.

"Take Piper and Leo," Calypso says to Hazel who nods in response. "I'll take the rest."

"Hazel Levesque," Asclepius calls before we exit the room.

I turn around, seeing everyone else do the same.

"Your plan will not succeed," Asclepius tells her after a long hesitation. "I am sorry."

Hazel sets her jaw. "Yes. It will."

Then she harshly grabs my hand and Piper's and we fall through the floor.

Well that's what it seem alike at least. All I can tell is that it's very dark, and very fast. It's amazing how weightless I feel. I never realised how heavy bodies are until now.

Then I slam into the ground and groan out. I hear a soft laugh and Hazel helps me up.

"Cheers, Haze," I groan out. "Why didn't you warn me?"

Hazel shrugs, a smile settling on her face, as if it had never left.

"What was Asclepius on about?" I ask her as Piper climbs to her feet beside me.

Just like that, the smile disappears and her eyes harden, her guard back up.

I barely knew Hazel before she went all like this, but she was an amazing person to be around. She was kind, fierce, and I felt like we could always relate, because our mothers were both killed because of Gaia.

"Hey," I catch Hazel's hand as she turns away. "You know we're here for you, right? We've all got your back, no matter what."

"He's right," Percy's voice says. "You can tell us what's going on."

Calypso, Annabeth, Jason, Frank and Percy have arrived too.

"I know," Hazel's says quietly. "But I've got this."

She's got what?

* * *

 **I'm sorry. People stopped reviewing so I stopped uploading. I'll be back long enough to finish this book. Only a few chapters left now.**

 **-SAW**


	21. Chapter 21

**Percy Jackson**

In my dreams, I am back in the Battle of Manhattan. More specifically in front of the Empire State Building. I am staring at a fallen girl, Annabeth, Chris and Clarisse by her side. The drakon escapes the brick wall that it's head had gotten caught in and rears back.

"YOU WANT DEATH? WELL COME ON!"

Clarisse charges the drakon by herself and makes quick work of it. We both run back to the fallen girl. Silena Beauregard.

Rachel's warning resonates through my mind.

 _Something is about to happen. A trick that ends in death._

I awake with a start to a loud crash from outside my cabin wall. I am sweating heavily, but I hurriedly stumble into my clothes and curse Leo for not adding windows. I rush on deck and hurry to the railings to see a fallen tree and Calypso examining it with her knives out.

Calypso notices me and gives a small wave. "Sorry! I was practising!"

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "Mind if I join?" There's no way I can get back to sleep now. Not after that dream.

Calypso nods and I climb down the ladder, moving towards her.

I don't know why'd I'd have a dream about that now. It's been almost half a year. The nightmares had stopped.

"Have you been practising what I taught you?" Calypso asks me.

I nod. "I think I've got it down."

"You'll have time to recover," Calypso says before pointing at a tree. "That tree over there."

I raise a hand and focus. I even out my breathing like Calypso taught me, and try to visualise the small particles of water in the leaves. Slowly, a frost spreads across the tree, leaving the large branches alone, but covering the leaves and smaller branches connected to the leaves.

Calypso raises her bow and nocks an arrow. She squints and adjusts her angle before releasing. The arrow flies faster than I can see and strikes a large leaf, which shatters upon impact.

"Nice," Calypso says approvingly. "That was an easier one though. Do the ground."

I drop to one knee and place a palm on the ground, slowing my breathing. I picture my power spreading through the earth until it reaches the groundwater that is inevitably there. I learnt that in year seven. I bring the water up through the ground and a bead of sweat trickles down my face. When just reaches the surface, I imagine it hardening and the ground below my palm goes cold. I close my eyes tightly as I focus on freezing it with all my power. After a few seconds, I collapse onto the freezing, hard ground.

Calypso helps me up and I open my eyes. The entire clearing is frozen over, the grass frozen into tiny spikes and the ground covered by a partially light blue ice.

For the last week or so, Calypso has been training me to freeze the ground. She couldn't do much but explain how other children of Poseidon had said it happened, but eventually it started working. I'd frozen water before without much effort, but this was different. The water particles are spread thinly through the ground, even if I bring them to the top layer. I have to take control of each particle throughout the field, bring them to the surface, and freeze them.

The plan is that I'll be able to cut Gaia off from her source of power. I've fought Antaeus, son of Gaia. The way I killed him was by luring him off the ground and killing him. Without contact with the earth, Antaeus couldn't heal, whereas before the dirt had risen to fill in any wounds I'd given him. Calypso says that Gaia will be the same. Cut her off from her energy source and she won't heal. Gaia will still be immensely hard to kill, but this way we've got a fighting chance.

That's not the only way she's been training me. Calypso has spent most of the last week with me outside, both of us battling the other until we were physically unable to keep going. The others trained too, but it wasn't as intensely as us. Calypso was determined to bring me up to her level, and further if she could.

When I asked her why, she responded with, "Don't underestimate yourself, Percy. You could be the deciding factor in this war if you train hard enough. Privately, besides Annabeth and Jason, the others have never been in a war. But I need Annabeth fighting Porphyrion. He'll try to toy with her because she's a girl, and before he knows it, she can have him down. Jason's good at fighting, but he's cautious and thinks things through carefully before he does them."

"That's a bad thing?" I asked, confused.

Calypso smiled at me. "Forget about the people who call you reckless. Recklessness is a good thing a lot of the time. You can take risks Jason would be too careful to do, and it may just win you the battle. Come on, I'll teach you some strategies."

I refocus just in time to dodge an arrow coming towards my head.

Calypso has her bow out and a smirk on her face. "Come on then. Today's the big day. You need practice."

I grin and bring up Riptide to block another arrow. Calypso grins before starting to shoot arrows at impossible speeds. I duck and weave through them, but make little progress on an advance towards her, ending up going sideways instead.

"Come on, Percy!" Calypso shouts. "Think about what I've taught you!"

It's hard to think properly when I'm dodging arrows, but this is what demigods are built for. My mind plucks a piece of advice from Calypso out of my memories automatically.

 _Use your surroundings to your advantage._

I dart to the side and take cover behind a tree, breathing heavily, and my fingers close over the hilt of a dagger strapped to my ankle. I cap Riptide, favouring my new dagger from Calypso for mobility. I hear faint footsteps getting closer and bide my time. At the last second, I swing myself around and up the tree, quickly jumping to the tree beside me.

Calypso still has her bow out but didn't see my quick escape. She moves her bow from where it was pointed, which was where I'd been hiding, and instead aims it at the forest, slowly turning in a circle.

I drop down beside her, slicing her arrow in half. I twist the bow out of her grip and bring my dagger to her throat. This happens in seconds, and I stare in amazement at her. I just beat Calypso.

Calypso smirks and before I can react, hits the back of my hand with her left hand, knocking the dagger out of my heart. Her right hand comes forward for a punch and I dodge to the side, only for Calypso to sweep my legs out from beneath me. As I fall, Calypso's right hand grabs at my collar and stops me from falling. The impact hurts the back of my neck and I yell out in pain.

Calypso laughs and drops me. "You had me, Percy. But you got distracted, your grip on your dagger loosened, and everything fell apart."

"If you're done-" A voice shouts from the ship. I turn to look. It's Annabeth. "-Breakfast is ready!"

I grin and accept Calypso's hand up. She smiles at me. "Good fight."

"Ditto."

We head to the kitchen where Hazel and Piper have made us vegetable pikelets for breakfast. I load up my plate and sit down beside Annabeth.

"So can we go over the plan again?" I ask for the fourth time, even though we straightened out all the details last night.

Calypso rolls her eyes. "For the gods' sakes, Percy! This is the last time!"

Calypso lets out a sigh and looks up at the ceiling briefly. "For the final time, myself and Piper already did some scouting. They're posted at the base of Mount Olympus. We know their guard shifts, when they swap over, which areas they cover and so on. Our help from the Romans no longer exists, as they have to go fight the army marching on Camp Half-Blood before they reach Manhattan. Morpheus has been spotted with that army, so we can assume it is him that is casting the spell over Manhattan. If the Romans can kill him, Camp Half-Blood can help them defeat the army. All we have to do is kill the Giants and not bleed over Mount Olympus."

I look to Annabeth for help.

"Calypso, Leo and Hazel are going in first," Annabeth says. "They'll take out the guards. Hazel with make it look like the guards are still there, and keep the two of them unseen. Calypso will shoot them down. They're gonna attach Greek Fire bombs to every statue of the Giants or Gaia. Leo will rig them. We're sending them a message. Then the rest of us will come in in groups of two from different directions. Then we pray that the gods will carry through on their word and arrive to help us."

"Okay," I say nodding. "So we're basically screwed."

Annabeth smiles and pecks me on the cheek. "Have some faith in the gods, Seaweed Brain."

"Basically," Leo agrees.

* * *

"How do we know when they're done?" I whisper to Annabeth.

We're in the Argo 2 above the Giants' camp. Invisible, and undetectable. We're hovering at the very top of the mountain, and the Giants' camp is built into the less steep side of the hill below us. We're high enough to drop safely, but not low enough to be detected.

Suddenly explosions go off in the camp.

"GO!" Annabeth shouts, and we take off.

We see them immediately. Hazel and Leo are being held by two Giants - Porphyrion and Periboia - and are struggling helplessly. Calypso has her bow out and keeps switching from Porphyrion and Periboia.

We break through the lines behind them and come up behind Calypso.

"What is this?!" Porphyrion bellows. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"More demigod scum," Enceladus snarls. "Quick, brother! Spill their blood!"

Porphyrion raises his sword and fixes his eyes on a struggling Leo. "For Gaia!"

Calypso acts before he can do anything, firing three arrows in rapid succession at Porphyrion's hand. Piper acts seconds after Calypso, throwing her dagger at Periboia's forehead. Porphyrion howls and drops Leo, who just about manages to roll, easing his fall. Hazel drops and falls through the floor immediately. Leo acts quickly, driving a dagger into Porphyrion's knee.

Porphyrion shouts out and kicks Leo back. He goes flying through the air and crashes into the ground beside us, scraping nastily into the harsh rocks. Hazel appears seconds after beside us, stumbling slightly. She stuffs a piece of ambrosia in her mouth quickly.

"Thank you," I hear her whisper to Piper.

Annabeth helps Leo up. Other than a few minor cuts and a large gash down his arm, which is dripping blood onto the ground, he seems unscathed. The cut on Leo's arm bleeds onto the ground, and the drops last no longer than seconds before sizzling and being absorbed into the ground.

 _The blood of Olympus._

"You traitor!" Porphyrion shouts at Calypso. "How dare you interrupt the awakening of your own grandmother?!"

"Gaia is no grandmother of mine!" Calypso spits at the Giant. "And you just tried to kill my boyfriend. You're dying by my hand, uncle."

Porphyrion tilts his head, amused. "Little girl. You really think you could defeat me? Me, the the great Porphyrion?!"

The monsters behind him roar loudly to emphasis his statement.

"Yes," Calypso says steadfastly. "With my eyes shut."

"Calypso?" I hear Leo whisper. "What are you doing?"

"Talk," Calypso hisses at us. "Buy time until the gods come."

"The ritual is half complete," Porphyrion announces loudly. "All we need is the blood of a female demigoddess."

His eyes fix on Annabeth. "Annabeth Chase. Heroine of Olympus. Favoured daughter of Athena. You'll do nicely."

Annabeth unsheathes her sword, forged by Leo. "Come and get me then."

Porphyrion throws back his head and bellows in laughter. "Seven demigods and a traitor sneak into our camp, blow up our statues and expect to be able to defeat us? Your arrogance will be your death."

"Brothers!" Enceladus shouts. "Rise! Let us defeat these demigod scum! Let their blood soak the earth and wake our Mother!"

All of the Giants stand up and we all unsheathe our weapons. Calypso fires a single arrow and it hits Porphyrion dead on in the forehead. He stumbles back, bellowing in pain.

The arrow does little to injure him, but Calypso smirks like she hit her mark. The Giants don't charge us, instead glancing uneasily at one another.

"ENOUGH!" Porphyrion bellows. "These demigods cannot kill us! They are completely without aid! Remember yourselves!"

The Giant start to close in slowly, but a voice halts them.

"Not completely without aid," Artemis calls, standing in front of her Hunters.

This sends ripples of noise through the monsters and clear unease through the Giants.

" _Yes_!" I hear Calypso hiss under her breath.

Porphyrion recovers quickly. "A single goddess and her band of girls means nothing! Crush them!"

Artemis only smirks and raises two fingers to her lips. She whistles loudly, and the sound pierces the air for several seconds before stopping.

Porphyrion laughs. "And what was that supposed to-"

And then the sky opened up and the gods descended from the sky in chariots.

 **-SAW**


	22. Chapter 22

**Percy Jackson**

It's almost as if it was planned out.

Hazel on Arion zips through the Giants' ranks, causing havoc and chaos, and decimating any nearby monsters. Hecate dances along behind her, setting fire to their enemies with her torches.

Frank turns into an elephant and barrels into an entire phalanx of Giants, Mars right beside him, laughing as he destroyed the Giants.

Piper stands head to head with the Giantess Periboia, holding her own despite the size of her opponent. Aphrodite hovers around them, calling encouragement and blowing petals into Periboia's eyes. While Piper looks frustrated at her lack of help, she still pushes on.

Annabeth and her mother (who still scares me to death) attack Encedulus, driving him back with their combined skill. Athena brandishes her terrifying shield at the Giant and throws her spear, which barely misses him.

Leo and his father disappear and reappear on the Argo II. They rain fire on the monster army from above.

I charge at Otis and Ephialtes. My father appears by my side, human sized and wielding his trident.

And Calypso and Jason charge Porphyrion.

The battle rages on around us as I face off against two Giants.

I duck below Ephialtes' spear and dart forward, swiping at his kneecaps. Poseidon quickly follows up, changing into his giant godly sized form and drives his trident into Ephialtes' chest as he drops to his knees.

Otis bellows in rage as his brother falls and charges at us, swinging his spear like a sword. He is quickly stopped by me concentrating before vapour-travelling up to his shoulder like Calypso taught me, and driving my sword through his neck. Poseidon stabs his trident through Otis' not long after me. He catches me as Otis dissolves and sets me gently on the floor.

All around me, Giants are falling, monsters dissolving.

But it's not enough.

Annabeth shouts out as Enceladus sends her flying back and crashing into a brick wall. I rush to help her, only to see a single drop of blood fall off her elbow and onto the ground.

It sizzles and hisses before sinking into the Earth.

 _AT LAST! AWAKE!_

The battles all pause as everyone turns to see the newly reformed Gaia.

Her dress is woven with blades of grass and her skin is as white as quartz. Her brown hair is knotted and tangled like the roots of a tree. But the most terrifying part is her open leafy green eyes.

" _Little gods_ ," Gaia croons. " _All here for my awakening. How sweet_."

Her next words send chills through my spine. " _Destroy them_."

Beside me Annabeth climbs back to her feet and kisses me on the cheek. "Don't give up hope, Seaweed Brain. We've got this."

And she charges back into battle with Encedulus with her mother, as all the battles around us start up again.

"My son," Poseidon appears by my side. He is looking at Athena and Annabeth battle Encedulus. They aren't holding up too well. "There is only so much time-"

"I'm going to fight Gaia," I tell him.

Poseidon's eyes widen. "Percy, you cannot hope to-"

"Go help Athena and Annabeth," I instruct him. "I've got this. Don't worry dad."

Poseidon takes one look at Gaia, who is watching the chaos unfold around her with a beautiful smile. "May the gods be with you, Percy."

He turns and charges at Encedulus, Athena looking grudgingly grateful for the help.

I fight my way through waves and waves upon monsters, making my way over to Gaia. I suddenly get a break and I rest my hands on my knees, taking in a deep breath. I'm about to continue making my way to Gaia when a voice stops me.

"Percy." It's Hazel.

"Hazel?" I say, confused. She should be fighting. And I thought she was upset with me for some reason.

"I won't regret this," Hazel says, looking me straight in the eyes, something she hasn't done in weeks.

"Hazel, what-?" I start before earthen tendrils grab me and pin me to the ground.

I struggle, thinking it's Gaia, but when I look, she's not looking at me, but in the opposite direction. It's only Hazel looking at me.

Hazel daughter of Pluto, god of the Underworld and all things in the earth.

"Hazel!" I shout. "What are you doing?!"

"I don't have much time, Percy," Hazel says, speaking quickly, but she steps closer to me. "I need you to know. All those weeks ago, when I first saw Hecate in that storm, she showed me the future."

Her voice gets softer and softer as she gets closer. "She showed me your death."

I swear I stop breathing. "Hazel-"

"It was by the hands of Gaia," Hazel says to me. "You were facing her. Alone. She stabbed you through the heart."

Hazel is talking more quickly now. "I found a way around it. But this might be the last time I see you. I just wanted to say I'm sorry first. Not for this, but for ignoring you for the last few weeks. It's just, every time I looked at you, I saw you dying."

I struggle harder than ever against my bonds. "Hazel. Come on. Let me go. We can work this out, together."

Hazel takes one last look at me. "Goodbye, Percy. You're a great friend."

I uselessly pull against my earthen bonds as Hazel shimmers and she takes on my appearance. I watch as Hazel, disguised as myself strides confidently up to Gaia.

 _Not her, not Hazel_ , I think desperately. _Not her. Not Hazel._

It would crush Nico. It would crush me.

 _Not her. Not Hazel._

And then my mind is whisked back in time. A figure bravely charges a large drakon. She wields an electric spear, jabbing at the drakon's face. Then I see her eyes. Her blue eyes. Then the drakon spits poison directly in her face.

 _Something is about to happen_ , Rachel's voice echoes in my head. _A trick that ends in death._

The girl collapses. Silena falls to the ground.

Then I am seeing myself again. Hazel.

" _Percy Jackson_ ," Gaia says softly, looking at Hazel, disguised as myself. " _You defeated my son, Kronos. You will die for that_."

A dagger as long as her arm appears in Gaia's hand and they engage in a battle.

 _Something is about to happen. A trick that ends in death._ But not if I can help it.

I fight harder against my bonds and they give way a tiny bit, filling me with hope.

 _Something is about to happen._

I slam my fist against the ground and a small earthquake starts, shaking the earth holding me captive and with one final jerk, I burst free of my bonds.

Gaia disarms Hazel easily, who doesn't have my same skill with a sword and knocks her to the ground. She raises her dagger to finish Hazel off, but I vapour-travel in between them.

Then pain. Unimaginable pain.

Gaia's dagger pierces right through my chest before she pulls it out and shoves me to the ground. I choke on my next breath.

 _A trick that ends in death._

"NO!"

I am being dragged away. Familiar gold eyes look down at me. Hazel. She's safe. She's alive.

"Ha-Haze," I mutter, struggling to make the words.

My vision is blurry. I can barely see, but someone is gripping tightly onto my hand. Not Annabeth. Hazel.

"N-not your fault," I mutter. " _Not your fault_."

And then, everything goes dark.

 **Calypso**

A cold sensation goes through my body, sending shivers down my spine and I could tell something is wrong.

I turn around, an unwise move considering I'm in battle with Porphyrion, and I see it. Percy. The top of a blade protruding through his back before it is pulled out and Gaia shoves him to the ground.

"NO!" I shout.

I teleport in between Hazel and Gaia, and behind me, Hazel drags Percy away.

I don't even feel the after effects of teleporting, rage fuelling me.

Someone steps up behind me. Two someones.

Thalia Grace and Annabeth Chase stand with me, facing Gaia.

"You killed Percy," I say, my voice trembling with rage. "Now? You die."

We attack at once. Thalia backs up and fire arrows at Gaia, distracting her while Annabeth and I attacks rom either side of her.

Tears are falling freely from Annabeth's face, but she pushes on. Gaia swings at Annabeth, and creates a large gash on her cheek, but the next second I am there, swinging my dagger through her arm, which falls with a loud shriek from Gaia.

Gaia's dagger falls too, and I kick it away.

" _Fools_ ," Gaia says, backing away. " _You cannot kill me on this earth._ "

Without knowing it, she has backed into Thalia. Thalia grabs her from behind and pins her arms, the right having grown back.

"Lucky for you," Thalia hisses. "We're going for a ride."

Thalia shoots up into the air, and the winds propel me with her. I have no doubt that this is the first time Thalia has harnessed the winds, but there is no fear in her eyes, despite her phobia of heights.

" _No_!" Gaia shouts. " _Release me, you ridiculous girl_!"

I silence her by stabbing her through the heart, right where she stabbed Percy.

Gaia's expression transforms into one of shock before she dissolves into dirt.

When we land, the rest of the Giants are dead, and so is the army of monsters. The battle is over, the war is won.

But at the cost of Percy Jackson.

The rest of the Eight are crowded around Percy Jackson when we land. They barely look up to acknowledge us as we join them.

"It's over," I say hollowly. "She's dead."

"But so is he," Annabeth says, before collapsing into heartbroken sobs.

Thalia comforts her, but her face is wet with tears too.

The gods join us silently, letting us grieve in peace. After what must be hours, Artemis taps on my shoulder.

"I thought you would be pleased to know," Artemis says quietly. "Your friends made it to the Legion safely. The Legion fought the army marching on Camp Half-Blood and awoke Manhattan."

I nod silently, but I can't help but notice the nagging feeling in my chest. I've missed something.

My mind is already working, ignoring the tears on my own face. I go through the prophecy in my head, trying to figure out the nagging feeling.

We all joined together. The banished and the gifted of fire, The son of the sky and the daughter of desire, The daughter of ores and the son of war, The boy of the sea and girl of strategy.

The city of Manhattan was put under another spell. _The city must sleep again once more._

I defeated Gaia. _Only with the help of the hearth, Shall they defeat Mother Earth._

So what's missing?

 _A line_ , I think. _You missed a line._

I rack my brains, trying to remember the line of the prophecy.

Then it comes to me. The line that was never fulfilled. I lied to the others about it.

 _The gods must defy an ancient law._

And suddenly, I knew what to do.

 **-SAW**


	23. Chapter 23

**Calypso**

The gods bring us to Olympus. All seven of us. And one dead body.

Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter are already there. There are gasps and screams when they see Percy's limp body.

None of us really listen as Zeus drones on about the war, until it comes to rewards.

Annabeth, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper are all offered partial immortality and they each accept; Annabeth after a long look at Percy's body.

"Calypso!" Zeus booms.

I step forward, staring at him, unafraid, despite the fact that the last time I was standing in this position I was banished to Ogygia.

Zeus clears his throat. "At the insistence of the other gods, you have been recognised as the leader of the Eight and the defeater of Gaia."

I snort, not caring how rude it is.

Zeus scowls down at me. "As it is, you have been offered the same as the last hero of the last war."

There are gasps and sobs at this, and I glare at Zeus for mentioning Percy so heartlessly.

"One wish from the gods," Zeus says, his eyes boring into mine. "God hood."

I glare right up at him and walk forward. "The prophecy.

 _The banished and the gifted of fire,_

 _The son of the sky and the daughter of desire,_

 _The daughter of ores and the son of war,_

 _The boy of the sea and girl of strategy,_

 _The gods must defy an ancient law,_

 _The city must sleep again once more,_

 _Only with the help of the hearth,_

 _Shall they defeat Mother Earth._ "

Zeus nods and scowls down at me. "What of it?"

"It has not yet been fulfilled," I announce, pacing back and forth. "We have all come together, the Eight of us. The city of Manhattan was out to sleep."

"Calypso," Leo says quietly behind me. "What are you doing?"

"I, blessed by Hestia, have defeated Gaia," I continue. "With the aid of Annabeth Chase and Thalia Grace, who have both not been acknowledged for such. The gods never defied any ancient laws."

I stop pacing and look up at the gods. "God hood, you say? I refuse. We must fulfil the prophecy. We cannot go against fate. Agreed?"

"Correct," Zeus says tersely.

And with that I have him caught in my trap.

"You agree we must fulfil the prophecy?" I push on. "Swear it on the Styx that you will allow me to fulfil it."

"Calypso," Zeus starts, glowering at me. "I am not quite sure-"

"Swear it!" I shout. "Would you defy the Fates?!"

I have him completely ensnared.

"Fine," Zeus grunts, after taking a long look around the room at the other gods. "I swear on the River Styx that I will allow you to fulfil the prophecy."

A slow smirk spreads across my face. "Thank you. Now instead of full immortality, I would like to split my immortality. Two partial immortals. Will that be a problem?"

Zeus looks disgruntled. "I suppose not. Who is this other person?"

"Percy Jackson," I say boldly. "You will defy the Ancient Laws and bring back Percy Jackson as a partial immortal in order to fulfil the prophecy."

 **That's it. The end. An extremely short chapter to finish, but it's finished nonetheless.**

 **-SAW**


End file.
